


Learning To Soar

by BakenandEggs



Series: Moving Forward [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), NCIS
Genre: Bad Elle, Competent Tony DiNozzo, F/M, Romance, Tony Dinozzo becomes NCIS Assistant Director
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:35:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 51,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21625423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakenandEggs/pseuds/BakenandEggs
Summary: "You’ve made quite the jump through the ranks, haven’t you, Tony? Senior Field Agent to Assistant Director in less than a year. That’s quite something.”Tony swallowed heavily. “Yes, sir, but I am confident in my ability to do the job.”Davenport’s narrowed eyes made Tony swallow nervously. Had the SecNav seen through his bald-faced lie?
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jennifer "JJ" Jareau
Series: Moving Forward [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558609
Comments: 273
Kudos: 1389
Collections: Wonderful_Worldbuilding_Fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am super excited to be sharing the sequel of 'Moving Forward' with you. 
> 
> This story will be shorter (only 15 chapters and approximately 52,000 words) but, thanks to Nanowrimo, I am already 50,300 words into the story that comes next. 
> 
> I hope you love this story as much as I've loved writing it.
> 
> Thank you to my sisters, DarkGhana and Kakariki, who continue to encourage me as I write. I so love being able to geek out with you!

“It’s good to finally meet you, Agent Dinozzo.” Secretary Davenport’s handshake was firm. “I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about you.”

“Thank you, sir,” Tony acknowledged with a dip of his head. “It’s good to meet you too.” 

“I’m glad to hear that you have agreed to step into Paul’s position. He wouldn’t hear of us offering the position to anyone else.”

Tony shifted uncomfortably. He still wasn’t sure what Paul saw in him. “It was an honour to be considered, sir.” 

Davenport nodded. “Yes, you’ve made quite the jump through the ranks, haven’t you? Senior Field Agent to Assistant Director in less than a year. That’s quite something.”

Tony swallowed heavily. “Yes, sir, but I am confident in my ability to do the job.”

Davenport’s narrowed eyes made Tony swallow nervously. Had the SecNav seen through his bald-faced lie? Would he change his mind and retract the job offer? It wasn’t as though anything had been made official yet, so it would be easy enough for them to choose another candidate for the job. 

Davenport nodded. “As am I, Agent Dinozzo. I look forward to seeing your progress.”

The relief that flooded through Tony was a surprise. He wasn’t that attached to the job, was he? It had been less than twenty four hours since he’d decided to accept it, and he still wasn’t convinced that he’d made the right decision. He would have thought that the possibility of being let off the hook would have come as a relief.

“Thank you, sir.” Tony made sure to slip some gratitude into his expression. Men like Davenport liked to be admired and, while he didn’t know what he would need from Davenport in the future, it couldn’t hurt to get the other man on his side.

Davenport’s smile was pleased as he turned toward Director Shepard who had been quietly watching their conversation from her seat behind her desk. “A pleasure to see you as always, Jenny.”

“Thank you for making the time to come down and meet Tony.” Director Shepard said, with the same alluring smile that Tony had seen her give Gibbs.   
  
“Of course.” Davenport seemed to straighten proudly under her smile. “Let me know if I can do anything to assist you.”

“Well, there is one matter,” Director Shepard said, moving out from behind her desk and laying a hand on Davenport’s arm. “But I’ll speak to you about that another time.”

Tony leaned back on his heels, suppressing his discomfort so that it wouldn’t be seen on his expression. Did all of the director’s interactions with older men involve this much sexual tension, or were Gibbs and Davenport the exceptions? He was tempted to glance towards Paul, to see how the current Assistant Director of Criminal Investigations felt about the conversation happening in front of them, but he didn’t want to draw any attention to himself.

“I look forward to it.” Davenport promised, before turning towards where Paul was standing. “Good to see you, Paul.”

“You too, sir.” Paul agreed evenly.

“You’ll be missed from here, I’m sure. Are you sure you won’t consider staying on for a few more years?”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Paul said, with humour. “Angela tells me that she’s been looking forward to the day of my retirement for nearly forty years.”

Davenport grimaced. “Yes, well, wouldn’t want to upset the wife.”

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Davenport gave a brief nod. “Well, I ought to be off. I’ve got a morning of meetings ahead of me, and I don’t want to hold you up. All the best, Agent Dinozzo.”

“Thank you, sir.” Tony said, forcing as much sincerity into his tone as would be believable. He might not be able to compete with Director Shepard’s flirtatious manner, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t still do what he could to earn points with SecNav.

“I’ll see you out.” Director Shepard offered, touching SecNav’s arm again. “Paul, you and Tony can take a seat. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Tony watched the two of them leave, before turning towards Paul. “So that’s the Secretary of the Navy.”

Paul nodded wryly. “I was surprised to hear that you hadn’t met him.”

“Senior Field Agents don’t tend to spend a lot of time meeting the brass. Though, I did meet his predecessor a few times. Secretary Peters seemed like a good man.”

“He is.” Paul agreed confidently. “In fact, if you have any problems that you don’t think can be solved using the normal channels, he should be your port of call.”

Tony raised his eyebrows sceptically. “You think I should call the Deputy Secretary of Defense?”

“Only if the situation requires it. But he’s someone you can trust to do the right thing.”

“Here’s hoping I never have that kind of situation.” 

“Here’s hoping.” Paul agreed, though he didn’t sound particularly hopeful.

Tony sighed and wondered, not for the first time, what he’d been thinking when he’d agreed to take the job. “So what exactly does this job entail?”

Paul looked amused as he pulled out a chair from around the table and sat down. “Don’t you think it’s a bit late to be asking those sorts of questions?”

“I have a rough idea.” Tony defended, sitting down opposite from Paul. “You’re responsible for all criminal investigations here, around the world, and afloat.”

“Right.”

“Which includes forensics and autopsy?” 

“Yes, we have thirteen forensics labs and thirteen autopsy facilities. One in each of our major field offices. Each major field office has an agent who is responsible for the day to day management of the agents, lab technicians, and medical examiners in their office, and all subordinate offices. You have oversight, but you won’t be as hands on with them as you will here in DC.”

Tony swallowed nervously. “Thirteen field offices.” He’d known that of course, he just hadn’t really considered what that might mean for him.

“Thirteen major field offices.” Paul corrected. “There are ninety seven Resident Agencies and Units.”

“Ninety seven?” Tony winced at the high pitch of his voice.

“Not all units and agencies fall under your purview.” Paul said reassuringly. “Some of them are exclusively dedicated to Counter Terrorism and Cyber and, as I said, the Special Agents in Charge of each major field office manage most of the day to day issues from their subordinate agencies and units.”

“But I will be directly responsible for the management of everything here?”

“Everything relating to Criminal Operations, yes. Both here, and the six subordinate offices.”

Tony’s chest tightened and he wondered if he was going to start hyperventilating. “Bethesda, Quantico, Annapolis, the Pentagon, and…?”

“Patuxent River Air Station and Dahlgren Surface Warfare Centre.” Paul finished the list for him. “Sometime in the next few weeks, I’ll take you for a drive around to all five. We don’t have time for me to take you to each of the major field offices in the continental US, but you should aim to visit them all in the next six months.”

The tight bands around Tony’s chest were not loosening. “How do you fit it all in?”

Paul sighed. “I don’t. Why do you think I let the situation with Gibbs get so out of hand? I’ve had to prioritise things and Gibbs’ bullheaded behaviour just didn’t make the cut.”

Tony shook his head, as he leaned back in his chair. “And you think I can do this? Paul, I wouldn’t even know where to start. The only management experience I have is the six months I just spent leading a team of four people.”

“You’re forgetting all the time you spent managing Gibbs’ team.” Paul reminded him. “Not to mention how efficiently you work. I’m getting old, Tony, and, as much as I hate to admit it, I’m not as fast as I was a decade ago. Have you got things to learn? Yes, but I have no doubt that, once you’ve gotten a handle on things, you’ll be far more efficient than I ever have been.”

“Work smarter, not harder.” Tony muttered quietly, before running a hand through his hair in agitation. “I know that I’m still supposed to be running my team for another three weeks, but I think it would be better if I spent that time with you.”

“What do you want to do with your team?” Paul asked. “We can’t afford to take them off rotation now that MCRT One is all but gutted.”

“Could we combine the two teams for now? Andrew told me that you’ve promised him a promotion to Team Lead, so he can start by temporarily leading my team until we decide on a final solution.”

Paul nodded slowly. “And Officer David?”

Tony’s exhale was loud. “What is she even doing here, Paul? I know that she’s supposed to be a liaison, but how is her working in one of our MCRTs facilitating any kind of close working relationship with Mossad?”

“She’s here because I want her here, Agent Dinozzo.” Director Shepard answered, as she re-entered the room. “And the specifics of the situation are none of your business.”

Tony barely managed to swallow down a wince. Why hadn’t he waited until he and Paul were somewhere private before asking that question? Now he either had to stand his ground or let the matter slide, and neither option was particularly palatable. He didn’t want to start his working relationship with Shepard combatively, but neither was he willing to ignore the fact that there was a Mossad Officer swanning around the office every day. It was bad for moral - not to mention national security.

Paul cleared his throat. “With all due respect, Jenny, as long as Officer David’s position at NCIS relates to Criminal Investigations the specifics fall under my purview.”

Director Shepard’s expression was wounded, as she moved to sit at the head of the table. “I thought you had agreed to trust my judgment on this matter, Paul.”

“I did,” Paul acknowledged. “But maybe I shouldn’t have. Tony is right, how do we know that she isn’t passing confidential information back to her father?”

“Ziva understands the trust that is being afforded to her.” Director Shepard did not sound happy. “And she is fully aware of the terms of her liaison position with NCIS.”

Tony couldn’t help but note that neither statement made any kind of assurance that Officer David wasn’t taking advantage of her position.

Paul didn’t look convinced either. “I can’t have someone in one of my MCRTs who I am not responsible for. Last year I sent a request to legal for her paperwork and was told that you had marked it as confidential.”

Director Shepard pursed her lips. “This hasn’t been a problem in the past, Paul. I thought you trusted me.”

“Checks and balances are important, Jenny.” Paul commented evenly. “You know that.”

“And yet you were willing to trust me until Agent Dinozzo entered the picture.”

Tony resisted the urge to duck his head under the heat of the Director’s glare. So much for not starting off combatively. 

“No, I was willing to let things slide.” Paul corrected. “But now I’ve got three weeks left and I find myself with nothing much to lose. The last thing I want to do is drop Tony into a wasp nest of my own making.”

Director Shepard arched an eyebrow. “And I am a wasp in this scenario?”

“Of course you’re not, but Officer David might be.” Paul leaned forward in his seat. “Jenny, last week she was alone with a suspect when he died and no one was even surprised.”

“She was proven innocent of that mess!”

“That’s not the point. I don’t even know what security clearance she has.”

“You don’t need to know.”

“I disagree.” Paul sounded frustrated. “If you want her to work with one of our MCRTs then she is my responsibility. If you don’t want her to be my responsibility, then have her liaise with a counter-terrorism team. That would be a much better fit for her skill=set anyway.”

Jenny shook her head, looking wounded again. “I don’t know if I can have an Assistant Director who doesn’t trust me.”

Tony barely managed to contain his flinch. That had to be a record. He was about to be fired from a position three weeks before he’d even started. 

“My job isn’t to trust you,” Paul said, his tone gentler than it had been all conversation. “It’s to assist you by running the Criminal Operation aspects of NCIS, and sometimes that means challenging you on things. You don’t want to surround yourself with ‘yes men’, Jenny; and, if you do, then you’re not the director that I thought you were.”

Shepard’s shoulders slumped as she leaned back in her chair. “I think I liked you better when you were willing to let things slide.”

Tony watched her skeptically, not buying her repentant expression for a moment. That had been far too easy. People didn’t just fold like that. They didn’t get themselves all worked up and defensive and then just give in gracefully. She was trying to manipulate them and, judging by the way Paul was relaxing in his seat, she was at least partially succeeding.

Paul chuckled. “I’m sure you did. Give Tony a chance, Jenny. He’ll be a better Assistant Director than I ever was if you let him.”

Tony swallowed down a grimace. Why did Paul have to go and say something like that? It was just going to make the director all the more defensive. Not to mention that it was complete and utter bull.

“You’re too hard on yourself, Paul.” Director Shepard said warmly. “It’s hard to imagine this place without you around. You will certainly be missed.”

“Thank you.” Paul sounded pleased. “Though I can’t promise the same. I’m rather looking forward to the quiet life that retirement brings.”

Shepard smiled. “Well, you’ll always be welcome to pop in for a visit if you change your mind. Now, I believe we have some things to discuss.”

“Yes,” Paul agreed. “Tony and I have agreed that he will step down from leading his team immediately to give him more time to learn the ropes. Agent Marshall will act as a temporary team lead until more permanent assignments are decided.”

Shepard’s eyes tightened minutely, but she nodded amiably. “And Officer David?”

“We’ll put her on leave for a few weeks until we decide how to restructure the teams.” Paul answered. “It’s been more than nine months since she was in Israel. I’m sure she would appreciate the opportunity to see her family.”

“That still leaves us a MCRT down.” Shepard pointed out. “Wouldn’t it be best to leave Agent Dinozzo where he is, and bring Agent McGee back to serve as Agent Marshall’s Senior Field Agent.”

Tony’s mouth dropped open. “McGee hasn’t even finished his probationary period yet. He won’t be eligible for that kind of promotion for years.”

“Those requirements can be waived under extenuating circumstances.”

“There’s no need to pull Agent McGee away from his new team.” Paul said evenly. “I spoke to Agent Vance a few weeks ago and he said that McGee has settled into San Diego well. It would be a shame to move him again so soon. Our rotation can handle being a MCRT down for a few weeks which will give Tony and I plenty of time to restore the first MCRT to full capacity.”

“I want to be consulted regarding any staffing decisions.” Shepard said, with an edge to her tone.

“Of course,” Paul answered easily. “But I know how full your plate is. You can trust Tony and I with these decisions.”

Shepard opened her mouth and Tony knew that she was just dying to throw their lack of trust in her back in their faces. Unfortunately for her, she had made such a show of letting the former argument go that she could hardly go back on it now.

Instead, she smiled stiffly. “I’m sure I can make the time for such an important decision.”

“We’ll keep you informed then.” Paul agreed easily. “I presume your office will be sending out a agency wide announcement regarding Tony’s promotion today?”

“Yes, and I understand that Agent Dinozzo has an appointment with HR to get everything squared away?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tony acknowledged. “I’ll head down there after we’re done here.”

“Call me Jenny, Agent Dinozzo.” Shepard said, with a smile.

“Tony.” Tony corrected, with a fake smile of his own. Hopefully she believed his smile more than he trusted hers.

“Well, I look forward to working with you, Tony.” Shepard said, and Tony was discomforted to see a glimmer of allure in her smile. Didn’t she know any manipulation techniques that didn’t involve flirting? Still, if that was the language she knew, well, he could work with that.

“Likewise.” Tony agreed, widening his smile charmingly.

Paul cleared his throat quietly. “Was there anything else, Jenny?”

Shepard startled slightly, as though she’d forgotten Paul was even in the room. “No, I believe that is everything. Thank you, gentlemen. Please keep me updated on any progress.”

Paul stood up. “Of course. Thank you for your time, Jenny.”

Tony nodded politely towards the director, before following Paul out of the room and then onto the balcony that looked over the bullpen.

“What was that?” Paul asked, in an undertone as they began to make their way down the stairs.

Tony didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I was just speaking her language.”

Paul shook his head, but he didn’t look upset. “You really are going to do well, Tony. You’re a natural.”

Tony didn’t think that was a good thing. “Shall I come and find you after HR have finished with me?”

“Take some time to update your team first.” Paul suggested. “They should hear it from you rather than read it in an email.”

Tony nodded in agreement. “And Andrew?”

“We’ll both talk to him after lunch.” Paul decided, glancing over to where Andrew was working at his computer. “That should give him some time to finish up most of the paperwork from the case.”

“Speaking of paperwork,” Tony lowered his voice and glanced around to make sure that no one was within hearing range. “Have you filed Gibbs’ paperwork yet?”

“It is in process.”

“Because I think she’s trying to put his team back together.” Tony commented lowly. “There’s no other reason for her to try and get McGee involved.”

“I picked up on that too.” Paul admitted. “Don’t worry, Tony. I’ll get that paperwork filed if it’s the last thing I do here.”


	2. Chapter 2

Tony thought that his meeting with HR had probably been one of the most painless meetings in HR history. He’d been expecting to have to spend a few hours filling out form after form, but instead they’d simply had him sign a few forms acknowledging that he was accepting a new position in the agency and then he was done. It was strangely anti-climatic.

However, the lack of drama was more than made up by his team’s reaction to his promotion. It made Tony glad that he’d had the forethought to take them out for coffee before spilling the news.

“Assistant Director?” Asher asked loudly, looking completely poleaxed. “They’re making you the AD?”

“That’s amazing, man!” Francis enthused, clapping Tony on the shoulder. “Congratulations!”

“Have they meet you?” Asher asked, his tone obviously teasing. “Or were they just pulling names out of hats.”

“I know, right?” Tony agreed in good humour. “I’m half convinced they just threw darts at a list of personnel.

“So, when are you leaving us?”

“Today.” Tony admitted apologetically. “I’ve only got three weeks to try and figure out what the hell I’m doing, so I figured I should probably make the most of that.”

“Today?” Francis repeated, with a confused frown. “But what will we do? I’ve almost finished my report already.”

“We’re smooshing you guys together with the first MCRT.” Tony explained. “Agent Marshall will be your acting Team Lead.”

Asher looked pleased. “Good for Andrew.”

Wardle frowned. “Does that mean that we will be working with Officer David?”

“No,” Tony assured her quickly, remembering how badly the two women had clashed over the last few days. “Officer David will be taking a few weeks leave. I imagine that she’ll take the time to visit her family in Israel.”

“Hopefully she’ll remember how much she likes it there and not come back.” Wardle muttered.

Tony raised a surprised eyebrow. He hadn’t thought his probie had it in her to be so catty. “Did something happen that I should be aware of, Wardle?”

Wardle considered that. “Are you asking as my Team Lead or the Assistant Director, sir?”

Tony sighed, he thought he’d gotten Wardle out of the habit of constantly calling him ‘sir’. “Does it make a difference?”

“It kind of does.” Asher answered for Wardle. “Somethings just aren’t worth escalating to the AD.”

“Right,” Tony acknowledged. “But I don’t technically start for another three weeks so share with the team, Wardle.”

Wardle’s jaw tightened. “She is awful, sir.”

“How?”

“She’s convinced that she’s better than everyone else in the agency.” Francis answered, to Tony’s surprise.

“Except Gibbs.” Asher pointed out. “She kept going on and on about how wonderful he is.”

“She ignores all the regulations.” Wardle put in. 

“She’s like a walking weapon, and she’s not afraid to constantly brandish it threateningly.” 

“You remember when you and Andrew told her that she couldn’t help interview the crew?” Asher asked. “For a moment there I thought she was actually going to attack you.”

Tony did remember. David had practically vibrated with rage and there had definitely been a point at which Tony had wondered whether he was going to end up in the hospital next to Gibbs.

“And she definitely doesn’t like Agent Marshall.” Francis put in.

“She doesn’t like you either,” Wardle added. “Though she never actually came out said anything in front of us.”

Raising a hand to still the flow of complaints, Tony tried to figure out what he should say. As much as he agreed with them, he couldn’t exactly come out and say that. Not now that he was going to be the Assistant Director.

“I can’t promise that you will never have to work with her again, but I will do what I can to make sure that it won’t be a regular thing. Officer David’s liaison position at NCIS is important to Director Shepard, and it is our duty to ensure that her time as a liaison goes as smoothly as it can. That being said, you will always be within your rights to stand up against any person who you see behaving inappropriately.”

There was a long pause, and then Asher chuckled. “No wonder they picked you to be the AD. You’re a natural.”

“You’re the second person today to tell me that,” Tony admitted, with a shake of his head. “But I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“You will.” Asher said confidently. “Shall we head back now?”

Tony glanced down at his watch, before pushing himself to his feet. “Yeah, let’s go. Oh, and don’t say anything to anyone until the official announcement comes through.”

“Any idea when that will be, Tony?” Francis asked as they all began the walk back to the Navy Yard.

“Should be today.”

Francis looked relieved. “Good. I’m not very good at keeping secrets.”

Tony quirked a smile at that. Francis was not wrong. “You’ll be fine. Just avoid talking about me for a few hours.”

“Right,” Francis nodded determinedly. “I can do that.”

“‘Course you can.” Asher agreed. “Now, how about you and Wardle go on ahead. Tony and I’ll be right behind you.”

“Uh, sure,” Francis looked confused. “Everything alright?”

“Everything’s great.” Asher assured him. “I just need to talk to Tony about something.”

“You got it.” Francis agreed, with a bright smile. “But you might want to hold back a bit. Wardle has little legs, so she can’t really walk fast enough to go on ahead.”

Wardle’s mouth dropped open in outrage. “Little legs?”

Francis looked completely unapologetic as they two of them continued to walk ahead. “What would you call it, Wardle? You’re more than a foot shorter than I am.”

“Because you’re a giant!” Wardle accused.

Tony grinned at their backs. “She’s come a long way.”

“She has.” Asher agreed, as he and Tony began walking again at a slower pace. “Training a probie can be a rewarding experience.”

“Or a soul-draining one.” Tony pointed out, remembering McGee. “It depends on the trainer.”

“It depends on the probie.” Asher corrected. “You can’t still be blaming yourself for McGee.”

“Not blaming exactly.” Tony hedged. “Just acknowledging where I could have done better.”

“You should have become a monk,” Asher groused. “At least then people would appreciate your obsession for self-flagellation.”

“I don’t think monks do that anymore.”

Asher huffed. “Maybe they’re onto something.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“I’m really happy for you, Tony.” Asher said, his tone brimming with genuine emotion. “And, despite my initial surprise, I can’t imagine anyone better for the job.”

“Thanks,” Tony acknowledged, his insides squirming with discomfort. “I appreciate that.”

“That being said, don’t you dare try and give me your job.”

“What?”

“I don’t want the Team Lead position. I remember you saying last year that you thought I should take it, and I want to make sure that you won’t offer it to me now. I don’t want it. Barb’s due soon, and then I’ll have enough of my plate without having throw in all that responsibility too.”

“You’re serious?”

“Absolutely.” Asher said firmly. “Barb and I have talked about the possibility and we both agree that I should stay as a Senior Field Agent. I like my job, but I really wouldn’t like your job.”

“So you’re just going to stay as a SFA until you retire?” Tony asked.

“Wasn’t that your plan up until Gibbs finally broke the last straw?” Asher pointed out. “Besides, it’s not all that uncommon. Not everyone has what it takes to be a team leader.”

“You’d be a great Team Lead.”

“But I don’t want to be.” Asher said. “At least, not now. Not when we’re about to have our first baby. Ask me again in ten or fifteen years.”

2-2-2

Tony had been looking forward to Andrew’s surprised expression at the news of his new position, so he couldn’t help but be disappointed when the older man didn’t so much as twitch when he saw that Tony would be sitting in on his meeting with Paul.

“I had wondered.” Andrew commented, with a smile that spoke of self-satisfaction. “Congratulations, Tony.”

“How did you know?” Tony asked, resisting the urge to pout.

“I didn’t know,” Andrew answered, as he nodded his greeting to Paul and settled down in the seat beside Tony. “But between the amount of time you’ve spent in this office, and the fact that Paul promised me a Team Lead position by the time he retired, it wasn’t much of deductive leap.”

Paul looked amused. “I imagine you know why you’re here, Andrew?”

“You’re finally going to give me my own team?” Andrew asked, sounding hopeful. “Please tell that Gibbs’ retirement is permanent.”

“It is.” Paul confirmed. “And, yes, HR will be expecting you later this afternoon to finalise your promotion to Team Lead.”

“Congratulations.” Tony smiled.

“Oh thank God.” Andrew breathed out a sigh of relief. “I swear, if I had had to work for that bastard for one more week…”

“I know that feeling.” Tony sympathised, before curling his mouth into a grin. “And I can recommend a therapist to assist you in your recovery.”

Andrew chuckled. “Thanks, but I think I’ll cope. Which team am I getting?”

Paul tilted his head towards Tony. “It was Tony’s decision, so I’ll let him fill you in.”

Tony swallowed nervously as Andrew turned towards him. He’d really been hoping to just observe the meeting. “The final decision hasn’t been made yet, but for now you will be the temporary lead of my old team. Officer David will be taking a few weeks leave until we have decided how to rearrange the teams.”

Andrew looked pleased. “No Gibbs and no David. It’ll be like a vacation.”

Tony grinned. “Again, I know the feeling. I don’t think anyone has been as excited for a stint as Agent Afloat as I was. Unfortunately, I can’t make any promises about Officer David’s future placement.”

“I don’t mind being her Team Lead.” Andrew commented, though his expression gave lie to his words. “I imagine she’ll be a lot easier to manage without Gibbs around.”

Tony wasn’t convinced. From what he’d seen, Gibbs had been the only person keeping her even close to the line. Though, maybe that would be a good thing. After all, every complaint filed against her would only add to his ammunition for his up-and-coming conflict with the director.

But that would only work if she had a Team Lead who wasn’t afraid to file a complaint against her. Which unfortunately meant that he was probably going to have to put her back in Andrew’s team after all.

“Well, you can at least breath easy for a few weeks.” Tony told his friend with a smile. “You’ll be starting with my old team tomorrow morning, so after you’ve squared everything away you can go home early and surprise Marge.”

“”Are you and JJ free tonight?” Andrew asked, casting an apologetic glance in Paul’s direction. “This calls for a celebratory dinner.”

“I’ll give JJ a call after this and let you know.” Tony promised, before turning his attention back to Paul. “Is there anything else we need to tell him?”

Paul leaned forward in his seat. “You’ve done a good job here, Andrew. I’m very appreciative of all that you’ve put up with.”

Andrew nodded in grateful acknowledgment. “It all seems a bit pointless now that he’s resigned in his own steam.”

“Who knows how long that resignation would have lasted if I didn’t have all your reports to help me close the book on his employment here.” Paul said, leaning back against his chair. “Now, go home and tell your wife the good news and I’ll try not to feel too left out about not getting an invitation to this dinner of yours.”

Andrew shook his head with a grin. “Would you like to join us, Paul?”

“Oh, no,” Paul demurred. “Angela promised me that she was making a pot-roast tonight. I love her pot-roast. But I do thank you for the invitation.”

Andrew rolled his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet. “Well, have a good evening then, and thanks again. Tony, I’ll look forward to hearing from you about tonight.”

“Sure,” Tony agreed, staying seated. “Have a good afternoon off.”

Paul waited for the door to shut behind Andrew before speaking again. “He’s a good agent.”

“Yes,” Tony agreed. “I think we should put Officer David back in his team.”

“Why?”

“Same reason we put him in Gibbs’ team. Because he’ll report her for her crap.” 

“You don’t think that’s a bit unfair on him?” Paul asked evenly.

“You heard him. He doesn’t mind having in her in his team.” Tony pointed out. “Besides, ideally it wouldn’t have to last too long. If I’m right, David will go off the reservation without Gibbs around to keep her in check. A few instances like that, and I should have all I need to convince Shepard that she’s a liability.”

“And who will replace you?’ Paul asked. “Agent Balboa?”

“No,” Tony shook his head. “He told me today that he’s happy as a Senior Field Agent. I think you’d have a better idea about who to put there. I only really know the agents here in DC.”

“What kind of agent would you be looking for though?”

Tony worried his lip in thought. “Someone to promote. Asher’s an experienced Senior Field Agent, so he’d be able to support a Team Lead who was new the position.”

Paul nodded approvingly. “There’s a few that come to mind, but the first one is Erica Jane Barrett. She’s one of two agents stationed at our Resident Unit in London, and she’s showing a lot of promise. I’ll send you her file, along with the other names I’m thinking of, and you can tell me what you think.”

“Okay.” Tony said, his mouth dry at the thought of the responsibility that he’d agreed to shoulder. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about today?”

“No,” Paul looked sympathetic. “Why don’t you get yourself set up on the empty desk near Juliet’s and you can start looking over their files now.”

“Sure,” Tony agreed, standing up. “Thanks, Paul, for everything.”

Paul smiled. “I doubt you’ll be thanking me for long, Tony, but you’re most welcome. And don’t forget to ring that girlfriend of yours.”

“I won’t,” Tony promised, feeling for his phone in his pocket even as he turned towards the door. “Let me know if you need me to do anything else.”

“You’ll have plenty enough on your plate before you know it.” Paul pointed out. “Take the easy afternoon of reading while you can.”

Juliet, Paul’s assistant, was sitting at her desk; but, when Tony stepped out of Paul’s office, she turned towards him with a smile. “Congratulations, Agent Dinozzo.”

“Thank you, Juliet.” Tony smiled. “Will you be staying on after Paul retires? It would probably be good for at least one of us to know what we’re doing.”

Juliet laughed brightly. “Of course, Agent Dinozzo. Though I’m sure you’ll be up to speed in no time.”

“Here’s hoping.” Tony grinned. “But for now I don’t even know where the empty desk I’m supposed to be working from is.”

“Oh, it’s right around here.” Juliet said, hopping to her feet and leading Tony around a corner to a desk that sat by itself next to the wall. “It’s not much.”

“It’s fine.” Tony assured her. “I presume I can just log onto the computer?”

“Yes, it should be all set up for you.” Juliet answered. “Can I get your personal things brought down?”

“Uh,” Tony considered that. “Probably best to wait until the official email comes out.”

“It came out a few minutes ago.”

“Oh,” Tony swallowed nervously. He didn’t know what to think about that. “Right, well, I can probably just get my things myself.”

“You’re the Assistant Director Elect. You shouldn’t be carrying boxes” Julia said, with a small frown. “I can do it, and I should probably do something about that chair. It looks uncomfortable. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

Tony blinked at her stubbornness. “Um,”

“I’ll get you one now.” Juliet decided firmly, a bright smile back on her face. “Now do you like Director Stewart’s brand of coffee? Or is there another one that I can buy for you?”

“Uh,” Tony couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so lost for words. “It’s great.”

“Wonderful.” Juliet looked pleased. “I’ll go get you one now then, and you can make yourself comfortable. Or at least, as comfortable as the chair will let you be.”

Tony eyed the chair in confusion. What was so bad about it. It looked the same as the chairs he’d been using since he’d first arrived at NCIS. Still, there were bigger things to worry about than just a chair, so Tony put it out of his mind and pulled out his cellphone to ring JJ.

“Hey there, Assistant Director Dinozzo.” JJ answered in a sultry tone.

“Assistant Director-elect.” Tony corrected with a grin. “Or so my future assistant tells me. She’s making me coffee.”

“Impressive. I wish I had someone to make me coffee.”

“I thought that was my job?”

“Good point.” JJ acknowledged. “But you’re not here right now, are you?”

“No, I’m standing beside my new desk outside Paul’s office and wondering why my future assistant hates the chair. It looks the same as my old chair.”

“Maybe it’s lumpy?”

Tony moved to sit in the chair and wiggled against the seat a few times. “Nope, nothing wrong with it. It’s just a chair.”

“Maybe she doesn’t think it’s worthy of the Assistant Director-Elect?”

“Probably, she won’t even let me carry my belongings down.”

“Oh, poor Tony, being bossed around by his assistant.” JJ laughed.

“Anyway, Andrew’s invited us over for a celebratory dinner. Are we free?”

“Definitely.” JJ said immediately. “I’ll coordinate with Marge, shall I?”

“Good idea.” Tony admitted with a laugh. “I wonder if he’s planning on inviting Asher and Barb too.”

“Probably. It would be a bit strange if he didn’t.”

“Yeah,” Tony grinned. “Anyhow, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”


	3. Chapter 3

JJ had been waiting all day for Tony to ring and tell her that the news of his new position was now up for public consumption; so, the first thing she did after hanging up was to make her way downstairs to share the news with Morgan and Spencer.

“Guess what?” She asked with anticipation as she stopped beside their desks.

Spencer looked a like a deer in headlights. He really wasn’t his best when it came to random guessing games.

Morgan’s expression lit up with interest. “You’re pregnant?”

“What?” JJ’s mouth dropped open. “No! Some profiler you are.”

Morgan leaned back in his chair with a smirk, his arms resting behind his head. “I’m a great profiler. I know how to get a rise out of you, don’t I?”

“I don’t know why you get so worked up about it.” Elle put in from her desk. “You seem like the sort of woman who’d want children.”

Biting down on her irritation at Elle’s judgmental tone, JJ ignored her. “No other guesses, Morgan?”

Morgan’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Normally I would say that you telling us now, as opposed to half an hour ago over lunch, means that you only just found out about it, but you’ve been excited about something all day. So you probably just got permission to talk about it.

“It can’t have anything to do with work, or Hotch would be the one telling us, so that that leaves your personal life. So it’s either to do with your family or Tony.” Morgan smiled smugly. “And judging by that reaction, it’s about Tony.”

JJ crossed her arms, regretting her decision to challenge Morgan to a guessing game. “What about Tony?”

“Well, you’re not pregnant or engaged, and you’ve already moved in together.” Morgan mused. “So, if I was going to take a guess, I’d say that he’s going to be NCIS’ new Assistant Director for Criminal Investigations.”

JJ rolled her eyes. “You know, working with profilers really takes the fun out of these things.”

Morgan’s smug expression dropped. “You mean I was right?”

“You didn’t know that already?”

“I really was just guessing.” Morgan defended, before shaking his head in wonder. “Good for Tony. That’s quite the promotion.”

Elle scoffed. “It’s NCIS. How impressive can it be?”

“The last Director of NCIS is the current Deputy Director of Homeland Security.” JJ retorted, more defensively that she would have liked.

“Director? Come on, JJ, aren’t you taking the whole ‘love is blind’ thing a bit far?”

JJ gritted her teeth as she reminded herself that giving into the urge to give Elle a piece of her mind would only make things worse in the long run.

“So Tony must be pretty excited.” Morgan said, his cheer sounding a bit forced. “When does he start?”

“Three weeks,” JJ answered, not wanting to admit that Tony’s response to the new job had been closer to dread than excitement. “But he’ll spend that time learning the ropes from the current Assistant Director.”

Morgan shuddered dramatically. “I don’t know what I would do if they ever tried to saddle me with a desk job.”

JJ glanced pointedly down that the desk he was sitting at.

“An actually desk job, without any field work.” Morgan rolled his eyes. “I want to go out like Gideon.”

“You know Gideon’s still around, right?” JJ asked. “And he’s only just turned fifty. He’s not actually that old.”

“You know what I mean.” Morgan’s expression was one of long-suffering. “He’d never let anyone force him into a job like AD. He’d quit first.”

JJ did know what he meant. “Tony felt the same way.”

“What changed his mind?” Spencer asked curiously, from where he’d been listening behind his desk.

“He remembered that he became a cop to help people,” JJ explained proudly. “And, as much as he loves field work, he’ll be able to help more people from this new position.”

Elle sniffed. “Pushing paper isn’t helping people.

JJ raised an eyebrow challengingly. “What exactly is it that you think I do all day, Elle?”

“That’s different.”

“It’s really not.” JJ retorted, months worth of frustration rising within her. “You think that you’re so superior to those of us who play supporting roles. You swan around the office thinking you’re so important because you’re a profiler, but you couldn’t do half of what you do without us.”

Elle looked taken aback. “What is your problem?”

“My problem?” JJ repeated, gritting her teeth. “My problem is…”

“That you’ve clearly not had enough coffee today.” Morgan finished her sentence as he stood up and quickly moved to stand between them. “Why don’t we go fix that now?”

“Right,” JJ’s shoulders slumped as a rush of shame flushed all the anger away. “I need coffee.”

“I’ll come with you.” Morgan said firmly. “Reid, if Hotch asks after us, tell him that we’ve gone out for coffee and will be back soon.”

“Sure.” Spencer agreed, watching JJ with wide eyes.

“Elle,” Morgan paused for a moment. “You stay here.”

JJ’s mind was flooded with self-recriminations as Morgan prodded her towards the elevators. How could she have lost her temper like that? Not only had it been completely unprofessional but, as a SSA, Elle outranked her. If she couldn’t learn to withstand Elle’s constant digging comments, then it was more than likely that she would end up in a disciplinary meeting with Hotch.

“Stop it.” Morgan said suddenly, as the elevator began to take them down to street level. “That wasn’t all your fault.”

“I can’t believe I let her get to me again.” JJ groaned. “I haven’t lost my temper with someone like that since my freshman year, and now I’ve practically yelled at Elle twice in six months.”

“This thing between the two of you does have a distinctly high school feel to it.” Morgan agreed, with an air of amusement.

“It’s so embarrassing! I wasn’t even this bitchy in high school.”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Morgan frowned. “You’re hardly the bitchy one in this scenario. You aren’t two mean girls fighting to be the Queen Bee. What she’s doing is workplace bullying, and you should be reporting her for it.”

JJ opened her mouth to reply, but closed it again as the elevator doors slid open to admit a group of very junior agents. 

Could she really report Elle? How would she start the report? ‘To whom it may concern, Agent Greenaway has been making mean comments to me….’ It just sounded so petty and juvenile.

“Hey,” Morgan greeted the junior agents piling into the elevator with a friendly nod.

“Hey,” One of the agents replied, looking almost awestruck. “Aren’t you from the BAU?”

“Yup, I’m Derek Morgan, and this is Jennifer Jareau.”

“That’s so cool!” One of the agents whispered.

“You’re from the Major Crimes Unit, right?” Morgan asked.

“Yeah,” Their eyes widened in awe. “How did you know?”

“You got on from the 6th floor.” Morgan reminded them.

“Oh, right.” A few of them actually blushed.

“Uh, sir,” One of the agents started, his expression eager. “Could you show us some profiling?”

“Sorry, agents,” Morgan started, as the elevator dinged to announce that it had arrived their stop. “It’s bad form to profile your colleagues.”

JJ shook her head in amusement as she followed the agents out of the elevators. Morgan and the others always went on and on about how they didn’t profile people on the team, but she’d never actually seen that stop any of them.

“I can’t believe I’m only four years older than them.” She commented to Morgan in and undertone. “They’re just so green.”

“And that’s presuming that they’re all only twenty three.” Morgan pointed out. “We were all like that, at one place or another. I shudder to think of my first few months as a cop. I made such a fool of myself.”

“It’s hard to imagine you as anything other than suave.” JJ admitted, as they left the building and stepped into bright sunlight.

Morgan grinned. “You should see me at my ma’s house. She cuts through my suave with a knife.”

JJ laughed. “Now that I have to see.”

“Never going to happen. What about your ma? I imagine she cuts through your professional demeanor just as easily?”

“Her and Elle both.” JJ groused. “I don’t know why I let her get to me. She’s no worse than any of the other agents before her.”

“It’s Tony.” Morgan said, as they followed the pavement to the left. “You only react when she’s bitching about him. If I had to guess…”

“Profile.” JJ corrected in an undertone.”

Morgan shot her a dirty look. “If I had to guess, I would say that it’s because you’re not used to having a partner, so you’re not used to just brushing off people’s comments about one.”

“That makes sense.” JJ admitted. “So, giver of wisdom, what should I do?”  
  
“Report her.” Morgan said flatly.

“And say what?”

“It doesn’t have to be official yet, but Hotch would want to know what’s going on.” 

“He can’t actually do anything unless I’m willing file an official complaint.” JJ pointed out. “And I’m not.”

“It’s not about him doing anything, it’s about him having the big picture.” Morgan explained. 

“Which won’t change anything.” JJ sighed, feeling ridiculous. She was an FBI agent, for goodness sake, wasn’t she supposed to be strong enough not to feel victimised because she had a colleague that she didn’t get along with.

“You know the agency’s policy. In fact, you probably know it better than I do. You have three options: make a formal complaint, ask for mediation, or start calling Elle on her crap before she manages to get you this upset.”

JJ sighed. “Yeah, I think I’m going to go with option three.”

“And if she didn’t outrank you, that would be enough.” Morgan said. “But you’re going to need to pick one of the other options too. For my part, I’m sorry that I haven’t had your back on this. I should have been calling her on her crap too.”

“You don’t need to.” JJ said, trying to ignore the fact that he thought she needed to actually do something official.”

“I do.” Morgan said firmly. “We’re a team, and what Elle is doing is wrong. Besides, if we don’t get this worked out soon Hotch’ll probably make us take the ‘Workplace Violence’ seminar again and, man, is that thing boring.”

JJ laughed, as they approached a coffee cart. “Thank you, Morgan.”

“Derek.” Morgan corrected. “We’ve been in the same team for two years now, I figure we can probably handle being on a first name basis.”

“Alright,” JJ agreed, a warm feeling filling her. “I’m still just JJ though.”

“Don’t tell me that your family all call you JJ?”

“They don’t.” JJ admitted, as they joined the back of the line. “But there is no way I am letting you call me Jenny.”

Morgan’s eyes lit up. “I knew you had to be a Jenny.”

“My name is Jennifer. How many options are there?”

“That’s definitely a question you should ask around Reid but, off the top of my head? There’s Jen, Iffy, Fer, Enny, Jenn-Jenn.”

“Iffy?” JJ asked incredulously. “What sort of parents would call their daughter Iffy?”

“Ones with a sense of humour?”

“A cruel sense of humour.” JJ retorted, as her cellphone began to ring. “Uh, do you mind making the order for me? I’ll pay you back.”

“My treat.” Morgan insisted.

“Thanks.” JJ smiled, before stepping out of the line to answer her phone. “Agent Jareau speaking.”

“JJ? This is Margie Marshall.”

“Oh, hi,” JJ could feel her smile growing. “I was planning on ringing you this afternoon.”

“Because of this dinner idea that Andrew cooked up, right?”

“Yeah,” JJ chuckled. “I figured it would be easiest to straighten out the details with you than to let the men try and make the plans.”

“Very true.” Margie agreed. “So, I just got off the phone with Barb, and she and Asher are in, but they don’t want to drive all the way across to our place. Which I get, since I’m not keen to all the way across town to their place on a school night either. So either you and Tony can play hosts or we can all go out to an actual restaurant, with glasses actually made of breakable material.”

“Well, Tony and my glasses are all completely breakable.” JJ offered. “But we haven’t been for a proper grocery shop for weeks, so we should probably go for the restaurant idea. Will your kids be coming?”

“They will not.” Margie sounded thrilled.

JJ tried not to feel too relieved to hear that she wouldn’t have to make awkward conversation with teenagers over dinner. “So, did you and Barb have any thoughts regarding restaurants?”

“Barb says there’s a wonderful Thai restaurant near NCIS.”

“There is.” JJ agreed. “Tony and I eat there about once a month. So far everything on the menu has been delicious.”

“Andrew and I are lucky if we go out for dinner once a year.” Margie complained, in good humour.

“Only five years to go until Hannah’s in college.” JJ reminded her.

“True, and by then you’ll probably have your own little rugrats running around so the situations will be reversed.”

“Hey!” JJ protested with a laugh. “I was trying to be nice.”

“So was I.” Margie didn’t even try and sound genuine. “Anyway, I’ll see you at the Thai place around six?”

3-3-3

JJ was the last one to arrive at the restaurant but she figured it was a fair price to pay for her actually having taken the time to get dressed up for dinner. Especially considering how much effort Barb and Margie had obviously put into their appearance. It was never nice to know that you were the worst dressed person at a party.

JJ didn’t think she’d ever been so glad that she had started leaving a set of clothes in her office for the times that she and Tony went out for dinner straight after work. 

When they had first started meeting for dinner she’d just gone out in her work clothes, but then they’d started doing it regularly she had found herself missing the opportunities to dress up. There was something about putting on a pretty dress, darkening her makeup, and slipping into shoes she couldn't run in, that was undeniably good for her mental health. Not to mention that she loved the way Tony’s face lit up when he saw her.

Speaking of which, Tony eyes were practically sparkling. “You look amazing.” He said, standing up to kiss her. “And here I am just in my work clothes.”

“You know you look good.” JJ retorted with a smile. If their impromptu make-out session when JJ had seen him with his waistcoat that morning hadn’t convinced him of that, nothing would.

“I do.” Tony agreed with a hint of smugness. Clearly he was remembering that morning too. “You know what? I think it’s getting a bit warm in here. I might take off my jacket.”

“Don’t be a tease.” JJ admonished as she sat down. “We’re with our friends.”

“Don’t stop him on my account,” Barb laughed from her seat across the table. “I’m always trying to get Asher into a waistcoat. Maybe this’ll be the push he needs.”

“Suits are restricting enough, why would I want to add another layer to my straight-jacket?” Asher complained.

“I’m with Asher.” Andrew agreed. “Waistcoats are uncomfortable and I haven’t worn one since my prom.”

“Waistcoats are hot.” Marge retorted.

“So I’m learning.” Tony said smugly, as he carefully hung his jacket off the back of his chair.

“Hey!” Andrew protested with a laugh. “No flirting with my wife.”

“Can I help it if my waistcoat is too sexy to be resisted?” Tony asked, settling into the seat beside JJ.

“Anyway,” Barb cut in pointedly. “It’s lovely to see you, JJ. You look wonderful.”

“Thanks,” JJ accepted the change of topic gratefully. “You too. How have you been?”

“Pregnant.” Barb answered flatly. “You?”

JJ laughed. “Great and, thankfully, not pregnant. How have you been, Margie?”

“Also not pregnant.” Margie answered, looking amused.

“Thank God.” Andrew muttered beside her.

JJ forced herself not to turn and see how Tony was reacting to the topic of conversation. It had been months since they had last talked about having children. In fact, she didn’t think really talked about it since she’d raised the conversation on one of their first dates and he’d said he was on board with the idea of having children one day. Should they be having that conversation again? Or was it too soon to even consider bringing the subject up?

“Well, I had some of the best news all year yesterday.” Andrew commented. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to hear of someone’s resignation.”

“Mmm, mmmm, mm mm’mm, mmm, mm, mmm.” Marge hummed with a grin.

Barb burst out laughing. “I’ll say!”

JJ tilted her head as she tried to remember why the tune was familiar.

“It’s from ‘The Wizard of Oz.” Tony explained quietly, before putting words to the tune. “Ding, dong, the wicked witch is dead.”

JJ’s lips twitched in amusement. “I’m sure there are a lot of really happy people at NCIS at the moment.”

“And not just at NCIS.” Asher commented. “JAG’ll be throwing a party.”

“Not everyone’s smiling though.” Andrew commented. “Ducky looked positively miserable today.”

“Can you imagine how Abby would be reacting if she was still around?” Tony asked with a dramatic shudder. “Talk about Apocalypse Now.”

Asher grimaced. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“And neither should you.” Margie said firmly. “We’re here to celebrate Tony’s promotion, not to reminisce about horrible colleagues.”

“Tony’s promotion?” Andrew asked sounding put out. “What about my promotion?”

“You want laurels? Become an Assistant Director.” Tony teased. “It comes with laurels and a comfy chair.”

“A comfy chair?” JJ asked curiously.

Tony turned towards her. “I told you that Paul’s assistant didn’t like my chair, right? Well, after she made me a cup of coffee, she disappeared for a while and then came back with a new chair. It is, I kid you not, the most comfortable chair I have sat on in my life. If I knew where they were sold I’d probably buy half a dozen and replace all of our lounge furniture with them.”  
  
“No you wouldn’t.” JJ retorted quickly, wincing at the thought of what their lounge would look like filled with office chairs. “I like our couch right where it is.”  
  
“Yes, dear.” Tony agreed, as their friends laughed.  
  
“So first day on the job, and all you’ve got is that you like your new chair?” Asher grinned. “How shallow are you, Tony?”  
  
“Well, the coffee’s pretty great too,” Tony admitted. “And I got to meet SecNav today.”  
  
“What’s he like?” Barb asked curiously.  
  
Tony paused for a moment. “Well, he has a good handshake.”  
  
“A good sign.” Andrew agreed, with mock solemnity.  
  
Tony shrugged. “What can you really tell about a man from a five minute conversation?”  
  
“Quite a lot if JJ’s colleagues are to be believed.” Asher pointed out. “Good thing they didn’t make you a profiler, huh?”  
  
JJ suspected that Tony’s problem had less to do with poor profiling skills and more to do with the confidentiality that came with his new position.  
  
“A toast,” She decided, reaching for the water glass in front of her. “To Tony and Andrew, and their new jobs! May they be filled with comfy chairs, good coffee, and a lack of evil witches.”


	4. Chapter 4

Tony wasn’t sure what to expect when he arrived at NCIS the next day. There wasn’t really much for him to do. Paul wasn’t retiring for three weeks and Andrew was taking over leadership of his team as of today. Sure Tony was supposed to learning about what the Assistant Director job entailed, but he was still unclear on what that would look like.

He’d spent the previous afternoon looking through the seven personnel files that Paul had sent him and then moving onto the other personnel files on the system. It was slow going, and he had only just managed to get through the ‘Cs’ before leaving to meet JJ, but he was glad for the time to do it. If he was going to be responsible for the investigative staff, then he wanted to be familiar with each agent’s basic details.

There was no one else in the office when Tony arrived, so he settled down and opened the next file on the list - belonging to an investigative agent stationed in Singapore named ‘Angela Daniels’.

He’d only managed to get through two files when the sound of someone approaching had him looking up to see Juliet approaching his desk.

“Good morning, Agent Dinozzo.” She greeted him cheerfully. “You’re in early.”

“I am?” Tony asked, glancing down at his watch. “It’s eight hundred hours.”

“Assistant Director Stewart doesn’t normally get in for another half an hour.” Juliet explained. “I always come in at eight so that I can get everything organised.”

“Really?” Tony asked in surprise. “I’ve been coming in at seven for as long as I’ve been an agent.”

“The Major Crime Teams all start earlier, but most of the administrative staff start around eight.”

Tony resisted the urge to wince at her wording. He didn’t want to be part of the administrative staff. He was an agent. An investigator. Not an administrator. He wanted to help people, not push papers around.

Even as he thought it, Tony found himself wincing for a different reason. He could only imagine how JJ would react if she ever heard him voicing those sorts of thoughts. She would be well within her rights to kick his ass.

“Of course you’re welcome to come in whenever you like, Agent Dinozzo, but I won’t be able to come in any earlier than I usually do.” Juliet told him. “I can’t drop my daughter off at her day-care until seven thirty and it always takes me at least twenty minutes to get through the traffic.”

“You have a daughter?” Tony asked, in interest. “How old is she?”

“Sarah’s four.” Juliet smiled proudly.

“That’s great.” Tony returned her smile, though he didn’t think he could have picked a four year old out of a line up of children. “You don’t need to come in earlier. I’ll be alright on my own. I’m sure I can live without a second cup of coffee until eight.” He paused, suddenly realising how that might have sounded. “Not that I think that your only job is to make coffee. I just meant that I can hold of anything that I’ll need your help for until after you come in. I’ll probably just spend the hour reading reports.”

“It’s alright, Agent Dinozzo.” Juliet looked amused. “I understand what you were trying to say. Though, you really don’t have to come in early if you don’t want to.”

Tony shook his head. “I prefer the early mornings. My girlfriend and I both leave for work at the same time.”

He hadn’t actually considered that his new job would come with later mornings and, while the reason he’d given Juliet was more of an excuse than anything, he wasn’t entirely sure he liked the idea of adopting the hours that Paul had kept. The job seemed overwhelming enough without considering that he might have to get it done in just eight and a half hours.

“Can I get you a cup of coffee, sir?” Juliet’s voice pulled Tony out of his thoughts.

“Uh, sure,” He agreed somewhat tentatively. It was still strange to have someone making him drinks at work. “Unless you have other things that you should be doing? I don’t want to get you behind.”

“I’ll be making myself one anyway.” Juliet smiled, before continuing on towards her desk.

Turning his attention back to his computer screen, Tony scrolled down to the next personnel file on his list. He winced as he took in the name. Ziva David was a whole bucket of worms that he really wasn’t sure what to do with. There was no way he could just leave her in her position, but the conversation from the day before had made it clear that he’d have to go through the director in order to get rid of her.

Tony clicked on her name and began to read through the file that was brought up. There wasn’t much to it that Tony didn’t already know. She’d been born in 1982, which meant that she was only twenty four, and was the eldest daughter of the Mossad Director. She had a lot of skills, none of which qualified her to liaise with a team responsible for criminal investigations. 

The most interesting thing about the file was the lack of any kind of evaluations or reprimands. The lack of evaluations weren’t particularly surprising, considering that Gibbs hated filling out paperwork, but Tony knew for a fact that David had earned herself at least two reprimands during the eight months she’d been with them. Which begged the question as to why they weren’t in her file.

“One cup of coffee, Agent Dinozzo.” Juliet announced, placing the mug down on his desk. “Let me know when you’d like your next one.”

Tony glanced away from the screen to offer her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

“Can I get you anything else?” Juliet asked.

“I’m fine.” Tony didn’t even have any ideas what sort of things she might be asking about. “Do you, uh, am I allowed to know what Paul’s schedule is for the day?”

“Of course.” Juliet said. “I’ll email it through to you, shall I? Do you want me to send you your schedule too?”

“I have a schedule?”

“It’s mostly the same as Assistant Director Stewart’s,” Juliet admitted. “Except the IT department have asked to meet with you this morning so that they can get your new clearance level sorted out, and you have a meeting with Agent Timmons this afternoon at three.”

Tony felt completely out of his depth. “Who is Agent Timmons?”

“She leads the team who works out of the Bathesda office. She was supposed to be meeting with Assistant Director Stewart, but he asked me to put her on your schedule instead.”

“Oh,” Tony was pretty sure they’d met once or twice. “Do you know why she wants the meeting?”

“Assistant Director Stewart meets with her every month.” Juliet explained. “He meets with all the Team Leads in the area.”

“Right,” Tony nodded, he’d known that. “Where will I be meeting her?

“In the Assistant Director’s office. He’s got a meeting with HR. Shall I send you the schedules?”

“Sure.” Tony agreed, trying to ignore the anxiety that was fluttering around his chest. He could do this.

4-4-4

Paul arrived at the office at a few minutes after eight thirty and, as he greeted Tony, he waved for him to follow him into his office.

“Did you have a good evening?” Paul asked, shrugging off his coat and hanging it on the hook behind his door.

“I did,” Tony answered, smiling at the thought of the dinner he’d enjoyed with JJ and their friends. “What about you? Did you enjoy your wife’s pot-roast?”

“It never fails.” Paul said with wonder. “Best thing you’ll ever taste. Have you been here long?”

“I came in at seven.” Tony admitted. “I like the early start.”

“Eight thirty is early enough for me.” Paul sat behind his desk. “It’s getting harder and harder to pull myself out of bed to come into work. Some mornings I’m tempted to retire now and use my holiday days to make up the difference, but I suppose I can manage another three weeks.”

“Don’t even joke about it.” Tony groaned. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“You’ll pick it up faster than you think.” Paul assured him. “So, what have you been doing for the last hour and a half?”

“Reading through personnel files. I’m just about up to the ‘E’s.”

“Have you come across anything interesting?”

“Officer David’s file doesn’t contain any evaluations or reprimands. Not even for the time she broke into a suspect’s house without a warrant in February, or when she broke the suspect’s arm last month. Which is strange, because I know Andrew filed a reprimand for both those incidents.”

“You think Gibbs blocked them?”

“Him or Shepard.” Tony agreed. “I want to ask Andrew to send me copies of the reprimand so that I can keep my own file on her.”

“Good idea.” Paul affirmed. “I’ve put Andrew’s team onto the roster. Normally I’d give them a day to bond as a team, but we’re already a team down.”

Tony nodded. “I looked through those files you sent me yesterday.”

“I presumed you had. What did you think?”

“Agent Barrett looks very capable.” Tony acknowledged. “Though Agent Dayton has been waiting for the promotion for longer.”

“True.”

Tony leaned back in his chair. “I think you’re right though. Barrett would be a better fit for the team. Dayton’s skillset is too close to Wardle, which would lessen h opportunities to learn.”

“We could move Wardle to Andrew’s team.” 

Tony shook his head. “Wardle has only recently started loosening up, and Francis is a big part of that. Not to mention that she and Officer David would probably have it out in front of the bullpen within the first week.”

“I’ll tell the director that we’ve made our decision then.” Paul looked pleased. “Which just leaves us with two spaces to fill in the first MCRT.”

“Dayton might be a good fit for SFA.”

Paul’s expression was considering. “Why?”

“With David on the team, Andrew will need a strong SFA who will have his back.” Tony pointed out. “And Dayton’s navy background would work well with Andrew’s history with the marines.”

“It’s worth getting him to fly out for a meeting.” Paul decided. “Though I don’t know if he’ll want to move to Washington for another SFA position.”

“We can tell him that he’s on the shortlist for the next Team Lead position that comes up.” Tony said. “And, even if he turns us down, this way I’ll have had the opportunity to actually meet him.”

“Alright,” Paul agreed. “Let me know if you come across anyone else you think would be a good fit for Andrew’s SFA. And then we’ll just need a probie.”

“You can’t put a probie on that team.” Tony retorted quickly, and then instantly regretted it. Paul was the Assistant Director, not Tony, and he didn’t want to step on the older man’s toes. What would Paul think of Tony arguing with him on his second day?

Paul’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”

Tony swallowed, in for a penny in for a pound. “David is practically a probie already. She’s still learning the basics, and needs to be watched every minute to make sure she doesn’t break another suspect’s arm. Not to mention that her influence would probably ruin the probie and then we’d have another McGee on our hands.”

Paul nodded consideringly. “So a junior agent then.”

Tony stared at him, hardly able to believe that Paul was just agreeing with him without argument. Shouldn’t he at least be arguing his own opinion?

“Only if that’s okay with you?” Tony hedged carefully.

“You know the team better than I do.” Paul admitted easily. “And you’ll be the one inheriting this all in just a few weeks. I’m happy to follow your lead on this.”

“Right,” Tony swallowed again, feeling the weight and responsibility of his new role settling on his shoulders. “Okay then.”

4-4-4

At five minutes until fifteen hundred hours, Tony tentatively sat on Paul’s chair and tried to get comfortable. The chair itself wasn’t the problem, it was just as comfortable as the one Juliet had procured for him, but Tony wasn’t sure how he felt about the desk. It felt awkward to be sitting behind such a large desk, and it didn’t help that the desk was made out of hardwood and looked as though it ought to belong to a CEO of some kind. His stomach twisted anxiously and he feel himself breathing faster.

Glancing around the office, Tony’s gaze fell on the chair that he usually sat in when he was talking to Paul. The one on the other side of the large desk. The one that Agent Sarah Timmons would be sitting in when she arrived. It seemed so far away. He couldn’t imagine trying to talk to someone from this position.

Standing up, Tony moved around the desk and sat in his normal chair - angling it slightly so it was facing the third chair in the room rather than the desk. Yes, this was more like it. He’d sit on this one, and Agent Timmons could use the chair that Andrew had used yesterday. Reaching out a leg, he hooked it around the chair leg and re-adjusted the angle so that it was facing him.

Tony’s attention was jerked back to the desk as the phone began to ring and he stared at it for a few seconds, trying to decide whether or not he should answer it. Eventually he stood up, reached across the desk, and brought the phone to his ear.

“Agent Dinozzo speaking.”

“Agent Timmons has arrived, sir.” Juliet’s voice came through the receiver. “Should I send her through?”

“Yeah, that’d be good,” Tony answered, through the lump in his throat. “Could you get us each a coffee please, Juliet?”

“Of course, sir.” Juliet replied brightly. “I’ll bring them through in a few minutes.”

Tony had only just returned the phone to the receiver when he heard a knock on the door. Resisting the urge to rub his hands on his trousers, Tony leaned back against the desk with forced casualness and called for Agent Timmons to enter.

Sarah Timmons wasn’t an agent that Tony knew well, but they had spent a fair amount of time in the same room. Bethesda was less than an hour’s drive from the Navy Yard, so the agents stationed there often attended the same trainings and ceremonies as the agents who worked from the main office.

“Agent Dinozzo,” Agent Timmons greeted with a smile. She offered her hand for him to shake. “Congratulations on your promotion.”

“Thank you, Agent Timmons,” Tony shook her hand and waved her to the seat to his right. “Call me Tony. Do you mind if I call you Sarah?”

She shook her head, and gracefully lowered herself onto the chair. “No, go ahead. I prefer familiar terms to be honest.”

“So do I.” Tony agreed, sitting in his seat across from her. “How was your drive in?”

“The traffic was a nightmare.” Sarah grimaced. “There was a while there when I didn’t think I was going to make it in time. I live in Gaithersburg, so I hardly ever have to brave the inner-city traffic.”

“Lucky you,” Tony shook his head. “I face it everyday and some days I can’t help but wonder whether or not it’s worth it.”

“I know what you mean, I’ve considered applying for a transfer here but, in the end, my husband and I decided that the extra hassle just didn’t seem worth it.”

“You’re married?” 

Sarah’s smile brightened up the room. “Three years now. Charles is a electrical engineer.”

“Any children?” Tony asked with forced naturalness. Conversations always felt more awkward when he’d a read a person’s file. It felt strange asking questions that he already knew the answer to.

“Matilda’s nearly three, she’s a bit of a whirlwind really.”

Tony opened his mouth to offer some kind of polite response, but he stopped when Juliet came in with the drinks.

“Coffee for you, Agent Dinozzo,” Juliet handed him a mug with a smile. “And peppermint tea for you, Agent Timmons.”

“Thanks, Juliet.” Tony warmed his hands against the mug. “We appreciate it. Could you close the door on your way out please?”

“Yes, thank you!” Sarah agreed, breathing in the steam that was rising from her tea. “I really needed one of these.”

“You’re not a coffee drinker?” Tony asked curiously, as Juliet left the office.

Sarah grimaced. “I am normally, but I’ve cut back to one a day. I’m pregnant.”

Tony blinked, he hadn’t been expecting that. “Wow, congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Sarah grinned. “Charles, Matilda, and I are really excited.”

“I’m entirely new to this sort of thing,” Tony admitted. “So you’re going to have to help me out here. How did this work last time, in regards to your job?”

“I’ll work up until the last few weeks,” Sarah explained. “But I’ve already started to take a backseat in regards to fieldwork.”

“Sounds good,” Tony nodded. “What do you need from me?”

“Nothing right now,” Sarah admitted. “But eventually my team will need a temporary agent. Leo, my SFA, is capable of leading the team in my absence - and it’ll be a great experience for him - but they’ll need another set of hands.”

“Sure,” Tony agreed, relaxing back against his chair. “I can make that happen. How are the rest of your team going? Any concerns or complaints?”


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Tony accompanied Paul to the NCIS Resident Unit at the Naval Surface Warfare Centre, Dahlgren, and tried not to feel too awkward when he was reintroduced to the team of three agents based there.  
  
He’d met two of them before, since it wasn’t unusual for one of the MCRTs to be called in to take over a case that was deemed out of an Resident Unit’s league, but not since he’d left Gibbs team. It made Tony wince to think that these agents had only ever seen him as Gibbs’ whipping boy. No wonder he could read some doubt in their expressions as they exchanged polite conversation. They probably thought NCIS was scrapping the bottom of the barrel hard.

“So,” Tony started, when the conversation about the weather fell into a natural lull. “What would you say takes up the majority of your time here in the Dahlgren Unit?”

The two junior agents exchanged a glance while their Team Lead, Rob Joiner, frowned. “How do you mean?”

“Do you find that there is enough reported crime to keep you busy?” Tony asked, glancing around the open plan office at the tidy desks. “What sorts of crimes occupy the most of your time? When I was afloat last year I spent most of the time solving petty theft cases and breaking up illegal gambling rings.”

The junior agents glanced at each other again and Tony could tell that they were swallowing down smirks. 

“Way I heard it, he was a one man temperance movement.” Agent Williams muttered, not quite quietly enough.

Tony’s stomach twisted. This was exactly why he was a bad choice for the Assistant Director position. His success at the job depended upon him being respected, and he clearly wasn’t. Not that being disrespected was anything new. He’d dealt with it before, and he’d do it again. At least this time he wouldn’t have Gibbs under-minding him every step of the way.  
  
“Should I take it you’re a champion for teen-aged seamen’s rights to get alcohol poisoning while afloat, Agent Williams?” He asked dryly.

Williams’ eyes widened, and his eyes darted toward Rob who was leading back against a desk unsympathetically. “Of course not!”

“But you think that my response to four hospitalised eighteen to nineteen year olds, two of whom almost died, was unnecessary?” Tony surmised.

Williams opened his mouth, before closing it again with a grimace. “Uh, I mean, it’s just a bit of booze, right?”

“Have you ever been on a naval ship, Agent Williams?” Tony asked casually.

“No, sir.”

“You ever considered why the navy might prohibit sailors from drinking intoxicating substances while on a naval ship?”

Williams swallowed. “Not really.”

“Well, better now than never.” Tony told him cheerfully. “Go on, we can wait.”

“What?” Williams blinked, uncomprehendingly. 

“Why do you think it’s against regs for navy personal to drink while afloat?”

Williams resembled a deer in headlights. “Uh…I don’t…um…”

“Agent Kane, can you help Agent Williams out?” Tony prompted.

“Well, there’s a lot of different ways to die on a naval ship.” Agent Kane answered quickly, shooting her teammate a sympathetic grimace. “Weapons, equipment, the ladders between the levels.”

“Not to mention that they could just walk straight off the side of the ship.” Tony agreed. “Why else?”

Agent Williams frowned thoughtfully. “I guess it probably lowers the amount of brawling on board.”

“It really does.” Tony agreed. “Agent Joiner, what have Williams and Kane forgotten?”

“That should a naval ship be attacked, the few hours it would take for a sailor to sober up could be the difference between life or death.” Rob answered easily, as Tony had known he would be able to.

Tony turned back to Williams. “The navy is not a social club, Agent Williams, and it’s not like any other job either. The navy is an essential part of our nation’s defence force. Which means that we need our sailors to be sober and ready for action. Understood?”

Williams swallowed, his eyes on the ground. “Yes, sir.”

Tony watched him for a few seconds before give a quick nod. “Good. So what sort of crimes keep you occupied here in Dahlgren?”

3-3-3

“I’m impressed.” Paul commented, as they drove back over the bridge spanning the Potomac River. 

Tony glanced away from the road to try and read Paul’s expression. What did Paul have to be impressed by? It had been a simple meet and greet. “With what?”

“The way you dealt with Agent Williams. Rob’s had some concerns with his behaviour over the last few months. He’s a bit too familiar with some of the younger marines they come into contact with. From what Rob’s told me, his tendency to identify with suspects has occasionally led to attempts to sweep things under the rug.” 

“Ah,” Tony nodded, it was an easy mistake for junior agents to make. “Do you think he’ll grow out of it?”

“He might, but there’s a reason we have a two year probationary period.”

“My probationary period was only eighteen months.” Tony commented. “Kate’s was only a year long, if that.”

“You were an experienced investigator who came to us with excellent references and several commendations, including one from the FBI.” Paul pointed out. “And I don’t know what Agent Gibbs told you, but officially Agent Todd was still a probationary agent when she was killed.”

“She was?” Tony asked in surprise. “But McGee joined the team a year after Kate. 

“Gibbs assured Tom that the two of you could handle them.” Paul said wryly.

Tony shook his head in bemusement. “Gibbs always did know how to get the brass on side.”

Paul scoffed. “Gibbs knew how to make himself enough of an invaluable pain in the ass that nobody could be bothered going up against him. You should have heard some of the things Tom used to say about him behind closed doors.”

Tony’s glanced towards him in surprise. “Really?”

“Tom would have thrown Gibbs out on his ass in heartbeat if it had been up to him.” Paul confirmed. “But Gibbs has made a name for himself with the brass. They liked his solve rate.”

“But not his conviction rate, I bet.” Tony muttered. “I had no idea that they didn’t get along.”

“It’s one of the golden rules of management. Crap rolls downhill; it doesn’t bounce. If you have to discipline a Team Lead, you do it in private – where no one in their team has any idea what’s happening. Same goes for a Team Lead disciplining their Senior Field Agent.”

“So basically the exact opposite of what Gibbs did.” 

“I think that can probably be said about any aspect of management.” Paul said dryly. “It’s the same principle if you ever have to challenge the director on anything. Do it in private so she doesn’t feel the need to try and save face.”

Tony nodded, that was just common sense. 

“And speaking of the director,” Paul sighed. “Director Shepard has approved Agent Barrett’s promotion to Team Lead of the Third Major Crime Response Team and she is willing to wait on the decision about Andrew’s Senior Field Agent until we have sat down with Agent Dayton.”

“But?” Tony prompted.

“She has someone in mind to fill the junior agent position in MCRT one.” Paul answered tightly. “She’ll meet with us on Monday to fill us in on the details.”

“Ah,” Tony grimaced, the last time Shepard had chosen an agent Ziva David had been placed on the team. “Is that usual?”

“It depends on the director.” Paul hedged.

Tony took that to mean that Tom Morrow wouldn’t have done it, but that Shepard had boundary issues. “So we can contact Agents Barrett and Dayton today then?”

“Yes, we need Dayton here by Tuesday at the latest. Then, presuming he and Barrett both agree to the shift, they’ll have four weeks to arrange their moves to Washington.”

“How long is Officer David’s leave for?” Tony asked. “It would be better if she didn’t come back until Barrett starts in MCRT Two and we’re ready to separate out the two teams.”

“Is there a problem?” 

“Paul, as far as I can tell, the only people in the building who don’t have a problem with Officer David are Director Shepard and Ducky. She is either ignorant of our regulations or purposefully ignoring them; she regularly expresses her disdain for our methods; and I heard her described by a junior agent as a ‘walking weapon’ who isn’t afraid to threaten people, suspects, and fellow agents alike.”

“She’s that bad?” 

“I think I’d rather have Gibbs back than be stuck with David.” Tony said with feeling. “When is she due back?”

“In two weeks,” Paul answered. “So the Monday after I retire.”

“Which gives us two weeks to figure out what to do with her before Barrett arrives to relieve Andrew from leading MCRT Three. Can we send her to FLETC? There’s nothing in her file about her having gone through training and she really shouldn’t be working crime scenes without it.”

“FLETC’s Criminal Investigator Training Programs are usually fully booked a few months out, and I don’t think there’s a new one due to start for another month.”

“Oh, right,” Tony winced. He should have known that. Of course FLETC didn’t start new CITP courses every week. 

“It’s still a good idea though.” Paul mused. “She does need training, even if it doesn’t solve our problem of what to do with her for those two weeks. Why don’t you look into signing her up for a course when we get back to the office?”

“Do we need Shepard’s permission?” Tony couldn’t imagine the director would react well if they organised something like this behind her back.

Paul sighed. “We’ll get the paperwork sorted today and then run it passed her on Monday.”

5-5-5

“Hey, JJ,” Derek’s knuckles rapped against her door. “We’re heading out for drinks in a few minutes, do you want to come?”

JJ looked up from the file in front of her and at Derek who was leaning against her door frame. “Who’s we?”

“Reid, Garcia, and Elle.”

JJ sighed, it had only been two days since she’d snapped at Elle and she’d been avoiding the woman as much as she could. 

Derek pushed himself off the door frame and moved so he could close the door behind him. “Have you talked to Hotch yet?”

“No.” JJ sighed, she should have known that he wouldn’t leave it alone. “What would I’d even say. It all just seems so petty.”

Derek crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s not petty. What does Tony say about it? He’s been an Agent in Charge. I’m sure he’s dealt with this sort of thing before.”

JJ looked away. “I haven’t told him about it yet.”

“Why not?”

“He’s just getting used to the idea of being the Assistant Director, I don’t want to give him extra things to worry about.”

Derek frowned. “That’s crap and you know it. This Elle thing has been going on way longer than that. What’s the real reason?”

JJ sighed. “You have no idea the kind of workplace bullying that he’s had to put up with at NCIS. Compared to that, this thing between me and Elle just seems so juvenile.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” Derek suggested. “You tell Tony what’s been going on and, if he doesn’t think it’s a big deal, you don’t have to tell Hotch.”

“And if I don’t?” JJ asked, mostly out of curiosity.

“I’ll talk to Hotch myself.” Derek said seriously. “Like I should have done months ago when I first noticed that she was a problem.”

JJ’s mouth opened in surprise. “You’d do that?”

“Do you want me to?”

JJ considered it. On the one hand, if Derek talked to Hotch then she wouldn’t have to; but on the other hand, she didn’t want Hotch to think that she hadn’t been strong enough to come to him herself. “No, I’ll talk to Tony.”

“Good.” Derek’s grin brightened up the room. “So, drinks?”

“I’ll see if Tony’s keen.” JJ decided. “He should be finishing about now. Can I let you know in a few minutes?”

“Sure,” Derek opened her office door. “We’ll be leaving at five fifteen.”

JJ glanced down at her clock; it was five past. “Sounds good.” She watched Derek leave, before picking up her phone and finding Tony under recently called.

“Hey, JJ,” Tony’s tone was fond when he answered after just a few rings. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Derek just invited me out for drinks with him and some of the others. Are you interested?”

“I could go for a drink.” Tony agreed easily. “At the same place as last time?”

“Last time?” 

“Just before I went afloat,” Tony reminded her. “When you introduced me to your team.”

“That was eight months ago.” JJ realised. “How have I not invited you out for drinks with my workmates since then?” Did she spend so little time with her friends outside of work? 

“Maybe we should have them over for dinner sometime?” Tony suggested.

JJ winced, she really didn’t want to have Elle over, but she could hardly invite everyone except her. “Maybe.”

“So same place as last time?”

“I don’t know,” JJ admitted. “I’ll text you the details in a few minutes. We’re leaving here at five fifteen, so in six minutes.”

“I’ll probably be another ten minutes,” Tony admitted apologetically. “I’ve got some paperwork I need to finish up before Paul and I meet with Shepard first thing Monday morning.”

“I’ll see you soon then.” JJ smiled into the phone.

“See you soon.” 

After hanging up the phone, JJ switched off her computer and quickly place the files she’d been reading in the locked drawer in her desk. Then she took a minute to reapply her lipstick, before locking her office and heading down to where the others were waiting for her. 

“Is Tony coming?” Derek asked.

“Yeah, he’s just got some things to finish up and then he’ll join us.” JJ answered, ignoring Elle’s sour expression. “Where were you thinking? I said I’d text him the address.”

“How about the place we met him last year?” Penelope suggested. “We can finally get him to try a cosmopolitan.”

JJ blinked in confusion, before she realised what Penelope was talking about. “How do you remember it so clearly? All I really remember is having to say goodbye to him afterwards.”

“Are we going or what?” Elle asked, her arms crossed.

“Can I get a ride with you, Penelope?” JJ asked. “I’ll leave my car here for the weekend.”

“Of course you can, sweetness.” 

5-5-5

JJ hadn’t realised how much she’d missed spending time with her friends until she was sitting around a table with Spencer and Penelope watching Derek flirting with a woman at the bar. They’d used to do this regularly to unwind after a difficult week. She wasn’t sure when they’d stopped.

“Look at him,” Penelope sighed, staring at Derek. “He’s just so smooth.”

“He’s a ladies man.” Elle agreed, before turning to Spencer. “What about you, Reid? Do you ever chat up women?”

Spencer looked down at his drink, his entire body signaling his discomfort. “Uh, um…”

“Reid’s too much of a gentleman to chat anyone up.” Penelope answered for him. 

“Yeah,” JJ agreed, resisting the urge to glare at Elle for making Spencer uncomfortable. “He’d never do anything so crass.”

“What’s crass?” Derek asked, suddenly dropping down onto the empty seat beside Penelope.

“You apparently.” Elle answered, with a smirk.

JJ was hard pressed not to roll her eyes; Elle was such a stirrer. “We were talking about how Spencer is a gentleman.”

Derek raised an eyebrow; humour dancing in his eyes. “And I’m not? 

“You can be,” JJ allowed, before gesturing towards the women that Derek had been flirting with. “But do they think you’re a gentleman?”

Derek smirked. “They’re hoping I’m not.”

“Exactly.”

“Ooh, Tony’s here,” Penelope announced. “And he looks yummy in that suit.”

JJ turned around to watch Tony weave his way through the between them. “He does, doesn’t he? You should have seen him on Tuesday; he was wearing a waistcoat.”

“Oh,” Penelope fanned herself with her hand. “He must have looked smoking.”

“Isn’t a waistcoat a bit over the top?” Elle asked.

JJ ignored her as she stood up to greet Tony with a kiss. “How was your day?”

“Alright,” Tony answered, which was one of the most positive answers he’d given all week. “Yours?”

“Productive,” JJ kissed him again. “We ordered you a cosmo.”

Tony blinked. “Why?”

“Because you liked the Pina Colada that JJ got you last time we were here.” Penelope answered, seemingly completely unembarrassed to have been listening in on their conversation. 

Tony glanced towards the table suspiciously. “It’d better not have an umbrella in it.”

“No umbrella,” JJ promised, returning to her seat and pushing the cosmo in front of the empty seat beside her. “See?”

“A curly piece of fruit is just as bad.” Tony grumbled, moving the empty seat closer to her. Then he sat down and wrapped his arm around her. “Did you at least get me a proper drink too?”

“I got you a beer, man.” Derek said, gesturing to the full glass in the centre of the table. “You’ll need to something to wash the taste out.”

“Hey!” Penelope lightly slapped Derek’s arm. “Have you even tasted a cosmo?”

“Not from a glass,” Derek admitted, wiggling his eyebrows.

Tony still hadn’t touched the drink in front of him, so JJ reached out and plucked the curled orange peel off the glass before popping it into her mouth. The combination of the sweetness of the sugar and the tartness of the orange peel made her smile in pleasure. “Is that better?”

“Can’t I just drink beer?” Tony asked, even as he picked up the glass. “This is pink.”

“Red.” JJ corrected. “Come on; just one sip and, if you don’t like it, I’ll finish the rest of it.”

Tony’s sigh was long-suffering, but JJ knew he didn’t really mind. “Alright, here goes.”

“You’re actually going to try it?” Elle asked incredulously, as Tony brought glass to his lips.

JJ watched his expression; grinning when his eyes widened in surprised enjoyment. “I told you that you’d enjoy it.”

“It’s delicious, right?” Penelope asked excitedly. 

“It isn’t bad.” Tony acknowledged, taking another sip. 

“I think you mean mouth-wateringly scrumptious.” Penelope told him. 

Tony chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far, Penelope. It’s tasty, but I’d rather a beer.”

“Heathen.” Penelope accused him, sipping at her own cosmopolitan.

“Tastes better from a women’s mouth anyway.” Derek commented, watching Penelope meaningfully.

JJ rolled her eyes; sometimes Derek and Penelope’s friendly flirting was just ridiculous.

“Oh, yeah?” Tony sounded interested. “Here, JJ, why don’t you have a taste?”

JJ glanced down at the glass that he’d nudged towards her. “Seriously?”

“You wanted me to enjoy it.” Tony reminded her with a grin.

JJ shook her head, but picked up the glass anyway. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. Aren’t you the assistant director of a federal agency or something?”

“Not for another fourteen days.” Tony’s smile was wicked.

JJ sipped at the glass, before turning towards Tony expectantly. He didn’t disappoint as he pressed his lips against hers with a passion and urgency that she’d only ever experienced in private. JJ practically dropped the glass onto the table, before sliding her fingers through Tony’s hair to pull him closer. Tony’s arm, which she’d almost forgotten was wrapped around her, pulled her closer until she was on the edge of her chair - only held steady by his arm.

Derek’s wolf-whistle drew JJ back to reality, and she could instantly feel heat traveling up her neck and into her face. She broke the kiss, but didn’t draw away from Tony. Instead, she buried her face in his neck in embarrassment. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten herself like that. The last time she’d kissed anyone like that in public had been as a junior in college.

“So?” Derek asked expectantly.

“You’re right,” Tony answered, sounding smug. “It definitely tastes better that way.” 


	6. Chapter 6

JJ yawned as she tried to bury her face deeper in the pillow beneath her. It was like burying her face in a cloud. She didn’t think she would ever get used to the softness of the expensive sheets Tony had bought for their bed. She also didn’t think she’d ever get used to the idea spending more money on sheets than she’d spent on the first mattress she’d bought herself.

Cracking open her eyes, JJ saw sunlight trying to creep their way around the edges of the black out curtain. She bolted upright - she and Tony would be late for work! - before remembering that it was Saturday, and they both had the weekend off.

Tony’s side of the bed was empty, which wasn’t surprising since she’d never seen him sleep past seven in the morning. JJ glanced at clock and was surprised to see that it was almost nine. She hadn’t slept this late in months. 

After glancing in a mirror to ensure that her hair wasn’t too bad, JJ pulled on her summer dressing gown and went to find Tony. 

Stepping into the living area, JJ smiled at the sight of sunlight pouring through the windows. The last weekend they’d both had off had been cold and wet and they’d been stuck inside for both days. Maybe today they’d finally be able to do one of the hikes they’d been talking about.

“Good morning,” Tony greeted, standing at the stove with a fish-slice in his hand. “Did you sleep well?”

JJ brought up a hand up to cover her yawn as she wandered closer to the kitchenette. “Wonderfully. I don’t even remember going to bed.”

“Probably because you’d had a few too many drinks.” Tony grinned. “You should be glad that you don’t get hangovers. I bet Penelope isn’t feeling nearly as cheerful as you right now.”

“I got drunk?” JJ asked, feeling her stomach drop like a rock. “How drunk? Did I do anything? Did I say anything to Elle?”

Tony’s smile was replaced by an expression of concern. “It’s not big deal, JJ. You didn’t do or say anything bad.

Relief flooded through JJ. “Oh, thank God!”

Tony still looked concerned. “What’s going on between you and Elle? I know the two of you don’t exactly along but you seemed extra tense last night.”

JJ sat down on one of the bar stools at the kitchenette’s island. “What are you making?”

Tony shot her a look at her obvious attempt to change the subject, but then he turned around the flip whatever was in the pan. “French toast. I woke up with craving for it so I picked up some bananas on my run. There’s some coffee brewing too.”

JJ narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the pan. “Why do you need bananas for French toast?”

“That’s what you put on French toast - banana, bacon, and maple syrup.”

“Banana and bacon? I’ve always had mine with berries.”

Tony winced. “Oh, well, we don’t actually have berries, but I’m pretty sure we have some kind of berry sauce in the fridge. Would that work?”

“Better than nothing,” JJ agreed. “Not that I can complain, since you’re the one actually making me French toast. I might even try a bite of yours.”

“You won’t regret it.” Tony promised, using a hot mitt to pull an plate piled with French toast out of the oven and adding the one he’d been cooking to the pile. “That’s the last one. Do you want to get the sauces out of the fridge?”

A couple of minutes later, JJ was watching in fascinated horror as Tony poured maple syrup over the bacon and sliced bananas that he’s piled onto his French toast. She couldn’t imagine how it would taste, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to. 

Tony groaned in appreciation at his first mouthful. “You should definitely try this.”

JJ used a fork to smear the berry sauce over her French toast. “I think I’m good.”

“I tried that drink last night for you.”

“All the drink had in it was a couple of liquors, lime juice, and cranberry juice. You’re trying to feed me banana and bacon at the same time.” 

“Because it’s delicious.”

“It’s a food crime! And to think that I thought you had good taste.”

Tony laughed. “It’s actually pretty popular. I’m not the only one who does this.”

“I know it is. I’ve seen the option on menus. I just never knew what kind of person would even try it.”

“Try it.” Tony urged, offering her a loaded fork. “It might surprise you.”

JJ eyed the fork suspiciously, before leaning forward to take the food into her mouth. It tasted odd. As though the food couldn’t quite decide whether it was savory or sweet. She chewed the toast, wincing when she could taste the salty bacon and sweet maple syrup at the same time.

Tony chuckled. “No need to ask what you think. It’s written across your face.”

JJ swallowed the mouthful and quickly took a gulp of coffee. “Food shouldn’t both sweet and savory.”

“I had no idea you were such a food prude.” Tony teased, before taking another bite and letting out an obnoxious moan of enjoyment. 

JJ rolled her eyes, as she prepared herself a mouthful of her own French toast. “I had no idea you knew how to cook French toast.”

“I didn’t,” Tony admitted. “But I found a recipe online, and it didn’t look too complicated. Pretty much all the steps were things that you’d already taught me to do.”

“So this was your first time?” JJ asked, looking down at her plate with new appreciation. “It tastes great! Well, my one does.”

“I know, right?” Tony looked proud of himself. “Who would have thought that all those cooking lessons would have paid off?”

JJ took another mouthful, enjoying the way the berry sauce tasted alongside the sweetness of the toast. Fresh berries would have been better, but it was still way better than Tony’s. “Any plans for the day? I was thinking we could go for one of those hikes we’ve been talking about.”

“Sure,” Tony agreed easily, glancing towards the windows that looked out to a beautiful day. “I actually have something to give you first though.”

“You do?” JJ asked, in surprise. Her mind racing to try and figure out what he could be talking about. 

“Yeah,” Tony pulled an envelope she hadn’t even noticed out from where it was half hiding beneath his place mat. “Here.”

Accepting the envelope, JJ studied Tony’s expression to try and figure out what he was giving her. He seemed excited about something, but that didn’t really give her many clues.

“Open it.” Tony urged.

“What’s the occasion?” She asked, as she opened the envelope with as little tearing as possible.

“Nothing special. It’s just an ‘I love you’ gift.” 

JJ looked up from the envelope with a smile. “I love you too.”

“I know you do. Now open the present already.”

JJ laughed, as she pulled the contents of the envelope out. Then her laughter caught in her throat. She was holding two Club level Redskins season tickets for the Redskins. She’d never sat in a Club seat in her life - just buying the cheapest season tickets had been a stretch some years. “Is this for real?” 

“I was going to get you Dream seats,” Tony explained, as though it was no big deal. “But then I did some research and apparently you can’t actually see the game properly from there. Apparently it’s worth it for a game or two though, so I got us Dream seats for the preseason game against the Falcons tomorrow night.”

“You what?” JJ didn’t know when she’d last been so excited. “Tony, this is amazing! I can’t believe you did this.”

“I’ve had the season tickets for a couple of months,” Tony admitted. “But I wanted to surprise you. I only bought tomorrow’s tickets last week when I realised that we’d both have the weekend off.”

JJ looked back down at the tickets. “Thank you so much, Tony.”

“You’re welcome.” Tony looked pleased. “Do you still want to hike today? We could do one of those Rock Creek Park ones we were looking at.”

“Rock Creek Park is on the way to FedEx Stadium,” JJ pointed out. “We could save the hike until tomorrow, have dinner somewhere, and then head to the game?”

“Sold.” 

6-6-6

Tony had never been to Rock Creek Park without a murder to solve, so it was a nice change to be able to focus on the scenery for once. He’d made sure they chose one of the paths which wouldn’t lead him him past a past crime scene, but there was a part of him that half expected there to be a dead sailor around each corner. 

“I love being able to hear frogs chirping.” JJ commented, as they walked past a small pond. 

“Are you sure that noise is coming from a frog?” Tony asked sceptically. “I thought they croaked.”

“They’re Peeper frogs.” JJ explained, as they left the sound behind them. “They only make that noise in Spring.”

“Why do you know that?” 

“I grew up in a town of less than a thousand people.” JJ reminded him. “There were some woods just a few houses down, and my friends and I used to go out there play. There was a pond not far in, and we used to spend hours trying to catch the frogs. We’d come home covered in mud, but I almost always managed to catch at least one.”

Tony grimaced at the thought of all the mud. “What did you do with them?”

“We let them go again, but every Summer we would catch some tadpoles and take them home. Dad found us an old fish tank that we put them in. Then we’d get to watch as they grew legs and lost their tails. It was great fun.”

Tony tried to imagine how his parents would have reacted if he’d come home covered in mud or, worse, if he’d wanted to grow tadpoles into frogs in the house. He barely managed to hold in his flinch.

“You didn’t do anything like that?” JJ asked.

“We had a swimming pool?” Tony offered. “But I wasn’t allowed to swim in it. Clark, our gardener, sometimes let me help him with new plants, but I had to make sure that I didn’t get any of my clothes dirty.”

“That sounds awful.” JJ sighed. “So you weren’t allowed to get dirty?”

Tony couldn’t help but remember the sailor-suits his mother had dressed him in. “When my mother was alive she didn’t like me going outside. Then, when she died, Senior shipped me off to boarding school. At least I was allowed to play sport there.”

“Basketball?”

“Lacrosse.” Tony snorted. “And golf. It wasn’t until I was at my fourth boarding school that I was allowed to play basketball. Oh, wait, I did get dirty when Senior took me to his Civil War Reenactments. I had to carry the poop bucket.”

JJ looked disturbed. “That’s awful.”

“Explains a lot about me though, right?” Tony joked.

“We’ve never really talked about your parents.” JJ said, sounding cautious.

Tony sighed. “There’s not really much to talk about. You know my mom died when I was nine, and that she was the one who came from money. You know that Senior’s a conman, and that he disowned me when I was thirteen. I don’t really know what else to say. Oh, except that mom was an alcoholic. She loved movies though; both her and Senior did.”

JJ was quiet for a few seconds. “What are your clearest childhood memories?”

Tony considered that. It was hard to choose between his mother’s death, Senior telling him he was sending him to boarding school, and getting the letter that told him he had been disowned.

“None of them are good.” He warned. 

“That’s so sad. What is your happiest childhood memory?”

“Probably mom teaching me how to play the piano.” Tony remembered. “Or Rosa letting me help cut out the cookies.”

“Rosa?”

“Our cook.” Tony answered, before realising how strange that probably sounded to JJ. “She was great. All our staff were. They were the first people who taught me Spanish.”

“I can’t imagine growing up like you did.” JJ commented. “I find it weird enough that you pay someone to come in and clean our apartment.”

“I don’t have to,” Tony said, not for the first time. “It’s just that I’m normally so busy that I don’t really have time to keep everything clean.”

“I’m not saying I don’t love not having to clean.” JJ assured him. “It’s just so different from what I’m used to.” She paused for a few seconds. “While we’re talking about serious stuff, can I run something by you?”

Tony glanced at her worriedly. “Of course. Is everything alright.”

“Yes, no, I don’t know.” JJ sighed. “You asked about me and Elle this morning.”

“She was sending you some pretty dark glares last night.” 

“Yeah, she does that.” JJ sounded frustrated. “Remember how I told you how Penelope and I think she’s trying to prove herself to be one of the guys by putting us down?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it seems to be escalating. When you were framed for murder, she really got into my face about how I couldn’t trust you; and how I couldn’t really know if you were innocent.”

“I remember.” 

“Yeah, well, what I didn’t tell you was that I snapped at her and she threatened to write me up for insubordination. Derek’s intervention was the only thing that stopped it.”

“That was months ago.” Tony pointed out, hurt spreading through him. “Why didn’t you tell me about it then?”

“It wasn’t really that big of a deal.” JJ defended. “Besides, you had a lot going on with Gibbs and Abby.”

“I don’t want you to ever think that the stuff I’ve got going on is more important than you.” Tony said, with forced patience.

“I guess I’m just not used to having someone to tell this stuff to.”

“And I am? I thought we had the kind of relationship where we told each other this stuff? I’ve been telling you all my stuff, and you’ve been keeping yours secret.”

“I’m sorry!” JJ snapped, before taking a deep breath. “I really am, Tony. It just all seemed so petty compared to what you were dealing with at work. I didn’t want to sound whiny.”

“You never sound whiny.” Tony told her, forcing his hurt aside. “You said it’s been escalating?”

“Yeah, she’s getting worse and now Derek’s saying that if I don’t report it to Hotch, he will.”

Tony stopped in the middle of the path, reaching out for JJ’s hand to stop her too. “What’s she doing?”

“It’s all stupid petty stuff.” JJ said, turning to face him. “Muttering under her breath; glaring at me. Just high-school stuff.” 

“What happened this week?”

What makes you think something happened?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “You said Derek’s threatening to go to Hotch. Something must have set him off.”

“That’s the thing,” JJ sounded frustrated. “It’s so stupid. All she did was make a few insulting comments about you and NCIS and then about how admin roles don’t help people. But I lost my temper and Derek had to intervene again. I don’t know what to do. It seems like high-school all over again. Derek wants me to go to Hotch, but I have no idea what I’d even say.”

“You tell him that Elle is regularly making your work environment feel unsafe.” Tony said seriously, having to force down his anger at the situation. “It might seem petty, but it’s actually pretty typical for female bullies.”

JJ sighed. “So Derek’s right? I should go to Hotch?”

“Absolutely.” Tony said seriously. “Especially since Elle seems to be baiting you into reacting in a way that would get you in trouble. Derek won’t always be there to intervene.”

“Maybe I just need better self-control.”

“Maybe you need a safer workplace.” Tony retorted. “Hotch can’t do anything about this unless he knows about it.”

“What can he even do though?” JJ sounded frustrated.

Tony reached for her hand. “Shall we keep walking?”

“You’re the one who stopped.” JJ reminded him lightly, linking her fingers between his.

Tony squeezed her hand. “If I were Hotch, I’d arrange a mediated meeting between you and Elle so you can work this stuff out.”

“What if she plays the victim? She could deny all of it.”

“Not with Derek backing you up.” Tony reminded her. “Besides, the point of a mediated meeting isn’t to make a judgment. It does two things, first it lets you lay down boundaries in a mediated situation so that other people can hold you both accountable; and second, it gets the situation on paper. Which reminds me, you should be recording all this stuff. Time, date, what was said, and any witnesses to it. Complaints always have more weight behind them when you can give specific information.”

JJ sighed. “I really wanted you to tell me that it wasn’t a big deal. No wonder Derek told me I had to talk to you. He probably knew you’d be on his side.”

Tony ignored the spike of hurt that came from knowing that JJ hadn’t talked to him about the situation voluntarily. They’d been dating less than a year. It wasn’t her fault if she didn’t trust him as much as he trusted her. 

“He’ll make a good team lead one day.” Tony predicted. 

“You think?” JJ sounded surprised. “It’s hard to imagine him doing Hotch’s job.”

Tony laughed. “Yeah, well I still find it hard to imagine that I was a Team Lead and now I’m about to be an assistant director.”

“You were a great Team Lead.” JJ reassured him. “How are you feeling about it all?”

“As though I’ve signed up for a game of politics.” Tony grumbled. “I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to work with the director. I’m half convinced that she only agreed to my promotion because she thinks that I’ll be easy to push around.”

“You won’t be though.” JJ pointed out.

“No, but I might need her to think that I am. At least for the first couple of months. Except, I don’t want to set a bad precedent that I can’t come back from.”

“What sort of power does she have over you? Can she fire you?”

“Not without permission from SecNav, but that doesn’t really mean much since she’ll be whispering into his ear.”

“Sounds like you’ll just have to make yourself so popular and invaluable that she wouldn’t dare.” JJ commented.

Tony winced. “Which would be hard enough even if I didn’t have the reputation of being a ‘one man temperance movement’.”

“Someone called you that?” JJ sounded amused.

“A junior agent.” Tony sighed. “I don’t know what Paul was thinking.”

“Probably that you’d know exactly what to do when you were faced with a situation like what’s going on with me and Elle.” 

Tony paused, he hadn’t considered that. “That’s pretty standard management stuff.”

“You’re going to be great, Tony.” JJ promised. “You know people, and you know how to make them behave the way you want them to. Just think of what you did with that mob guy last year. You had him exactly where you wanted him. You just have to figure out where you want the director, and how you’re going to get her there.”


	7. Chapter 7

Tony spent the rest of his Sunday with JJ’s words swirling around and around in his brain. 

“You just have to figure out where you want the director, and how you’re going to get her there.” 

He hadn’t considered using his undercover skills during his interactions with Shepard before JJ had said anything, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

What did Shepard want? What was driving her? What was her weak spot? 

The problem was that Tony had never bothered doing much research into her background. He knew that she had been the Assistant Director for Intelligence and Information Sharing for two years before being promoted to Director, and he knew that she’d worked with Gibbs at one point, but that was it. 

Which he now realised was a serious oversight on his part. How was he supposed to figure out how to work with Shepard, if he didn’t even know what sort of background she had?

So, the first thing he did when he arrived at the office on Monday morning was to look to see if he had access to the director’s file. He wasn’t surprised when the file was restricted, but it did mean that he’d have to look elsewhere for his answers.

The best source for information was probably Paul but, since the retiring agent wouldn’t be in the office for at least another hour, Tony figured he’d start with a google search.

It took all of five minutes for Tony to start to feel a headache coming on.

Jennifer Shepard (born 1963) had a graduate degree in political science and she had joined NCIS in 1998 after having been the Legislative Director for Republican Congresswoman Priscilla Frachette. Which, by Tony’s calculations, meant that she had only been an agent for five years when she’d been made Assistant Director. 

Which was quite comforting in a way, since it was the same amount of time that Tony had been at NCIS - and he’d had eight years law enforcement experience before that. Maybe he wasn’t as horribly unqualified as he’d feared. Either that, or Shepard was just as unqualified as he was.

But that wasn’t what was causing his headache. He was less worried with Shepard’s experience at NCIS, and more concerned about what had brought her to the agency in the first place. Why would someone leave a successful career as a Legislative Director and join NCIS? Not only did it seem like a strange career shift, but it would have meant her salary would have halved.

It didn’t make sense. NCIS had all sorts of people join the agency: cops, lawyers, geeks, marines, professional sport players, etc; but this was only the second time he’d ever heard of a politician making the shift. Somehow Tony doubted Shepard’s motivation was less altruistic than Stan Burley’s had been.

Tony gave his head a shake to try and refocus it. As puzzling as Shepard’s motives were, and as relevant as they were to figuring out what made her tick, he just didn’t have the information he needed to even speculate on the matter. That would have to be a question for another day.

For now, he’d have to work with the information that he did have. Two details seemed the most relevant. First, that Director Shepard’s background was in politics and legislation; and second, that her experience with law enforcement was very limited. 

Which said a lot, especially given how much she kept trying to micro-manage the Criminal Operations Division of the Agency. If Shepard had been half as clever and confident as she looked, she would have trusted her agents’ experience and let them do their jobs. The fact that she wasn’t likely meant one of two things, either that she had an agenda that she wasn’t willing to trust anyone with, or that she felt so insecure in her position that she needed to keep reminding people that she was the director.

Personally, Tony suspected that it was a little bit of both options. Combined with her inexperience, Shepard’s habit of constantly forcing herself into cases screamed of insecurity, but her decision to bring Officer David into the agency indicated that she had an agenda. Not to mention the fact that she had apparently decided to appoint an agent of her choosing to Andrew’s team. Tony was looking forward to hearing who the chosen agent was - he suspected that alone would give him plenty of information to go on.

7-7-7

As Tony followed Paul up the stairs to Shepard’s office he reminded himself of the game plan that he had decided on. He couldn’t afford to get on her bad side, which meant that he needed to play her game - especially if he was going to be in a position to figure out her agenda. But he wasn’t willing to be reduced to her ‘yes man’ either. He’d seen first hands the problems that had resulted from Paul’s willingness to let Shepard call all the shots. He didn’t want to let another Gibbs situation develop, let alone a situation like they had with Officer David.

Which meant that he was going to have to play his role exactly right in order to be able to do his job without getting Shepard’s back up. He was going to have to be at his most charming; competent enough that she’d be confident in his ability to do his job, but humble and self-effacing enough that she didn’t get defensive. It was enough to make him wish he could just be going undercover with the mob again. That would have been easier.

Why had he agreed to take the job again?

Tony offered Cynthia a smile as they walked passed her desk, before following Paul in to the director’s office. It felt strange to be walking in as though he belonged there.

“Paul, Tony,” Shepard stood up from behind her desk with a wide smile. “It’s good to see you.”

“And you, Jenny.” Paul said, pausing near her desk. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us.”

“Of course.” Jenny moved around the desk with a file in hand, and gestured for them to sit at the table. “I only have a few minutes today, but I thought that we ought to meet. We really do need to get these positions filled as soon as possible. I understand that you’ve already spoken to Agent Barrett about her promotion?”

“Yes, I spoke to her on Friday.” Tony answered, after glancing towards Paul to check that it was alright. “She needed to think it over, so I gave her until lunch time today to make her decision.”

Shepard frowned, straightening the file she had placed on the table in front of her. “Three days seems like an rather excessive amount of time, considering our current time pressure.”

Tony thoroughly disagreed. You couldn’t expect a person to make the decision to uproot their lives and move to a different country without giving them time to process the idea. Even three days seemed unreasonably short a time. But he couldn’t exactly say that.

“I didn’t speak to Agent Barrett until after you had signed off on our proposal on Friday, ma’am, and I didn’t think there was anything that H.R. could have done to process her transfer over the weekend.”

“Call me Jenny, Tony.”

“Thank you, Jenny,” Tony offered her a pleased smile. “If you would like, we could discuss our options for if she turns the promotion down? That way Paul and I could get contact our second choice this afternoon.”

“Who did you have in mind?”

Tony glanced at Paul to see if the older agent wanted to the answer. “Agent Cassie Yates. She was a probie and then a junior agent under Agent Pacci. Then she spent three years as a junior agent at the Resident Unit at Norfolk. She’s spent the last two years as the Senior Field Agent of the Narcotics Suppression Team in Anacostia.”

“Cassie Yates,” Shepard looked thoughtful. “She’s the one who assisted Agent Gibbs with a case a few weeks ago?”

“Yes, Agent Gibbs asked for her assistance when you were kidnapped.” Tony confirmed. “She had investigated the Dempsey brothers in the past.”

Shepard turned her attention to Paul. “She’s who you would recommend, Paul?”

“I’d prefer Agent Barrett but, if she’s not available, Agent Yates would be a fine choice.” Paul answered evenly.

Shepard nodded. “I’ll have a look over her file this morning and let you know my thoughts on the matter.”

Tony nodded agreeable, as though it was perfectly reasonably that the director of NCIS insisted on micromanaging basic HR issues. 

“I understand that Agent Dayton is flying in for an interview this week?” Shepard asked.

“Grant will be here tomorrow and Tony and I will sit down with him at eleven. He already has a Senior Field position at the Newport Naval Station, so I’m not all that confident that he will be willing to move out of state for this opportunity.”

“I have a meeting on the hill tomorrow morning. Could you move the interview to the afternoon?”

“I’m sorry, Jenny, but he’s only here for a few hours. He’ll be back on Rhode Island that afternoon.”

Shepard looked put out. “I see.”

“We’ll be sure to represent you well, Director.” Tony promised. 

“I’m sure you will, Tony.” Shepard’s smile seemed genuinely pleased. “Thank you. Do you have suggestions in case Agent Dayton says no? Perhaps Agent Yates would be a good fit? Or Agent McGee?”

“Agent Yates and Officer David have had some trouble working together in the past.” Tony offered neutrally.

“Ah,” Shepard said knowingly. “I see. Agent McGee then?”

Paul sighed. “Agent McGee still has one month left in his probationary period, Jenny. He won’t be eligible for that kind of promotion for another two years.”

“Still, exceptions have been made in the past.” Shepard said, her eyes on Tony. “I know you have had some difficulties working with Agent McGee in the past, Tony, but I hope you won’t let you personal feelings interfere with your professional judgment.”

“Tony had over seven years of law enforcement experience before he joined us, four of which he spent as a detective.” Paul pointed out. “Agent McGee graduated with his masters four years ago, and he has only spent two years in law enforcement since then. It would be unfair to him to give him so much responsibility this early in his career. He’s only twenty eight.”

Shepard crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “So who did you have in mind?”

“Agent Thom Herring, from our Southwest Field Office in San Diego, would be my second choice.” Paul answered. “He spent a decade as a Seal before joining NCIS.”

Shepard pursed her lips. “From what I remember, Agent Dayton spent fifteen years in the Navy. Is there a reason you are focusing on agents with military experience? I would have thought that Agent Marshall’s twenty years as a marine were enough military background for one team.”

“You’d be surprised how many of our more experienced agents have military experience, Jenny.” Paul said. “Often their military experience is what has given them the experience they need to lead a team. Agents Brown, Marshall, and Dayton were all honorably discharged with non-commissioned ranks that more than qualify them to lead teams.

“I see.”

Tony really hoped that she didn’t because, while Paul’s explanation was true, they were mostly just trying to give Andrew the support he’d need to manage Officer David.

“I understand that you’ve chosen an agent to fill the fourth position in the first MCRT?” Paul asked.

“I have,” Jenny said, flipping open the file in front of her and sliding it across the table to Paul. “Agent Nick Torres. He’s one of our deep cover agents who has just finished a six month assignment. A place in one of our Major Crime Response Teams will be good experience for him.”

Tony glanced towards Paul to see what he was thinking, but the older man was focused on the front page of the file in front of him. From the look of the picture, Agent Torres looked to be in his late twenties. 

“He has no investigative experience.” Paul said, not looking up from the file. “At first glance, his skill set seems to be very similar to Officer David’s.”

Shepard leaned back in her chair. “Tony’s new position leaves our office without a skilled male undercover operative to call on. There will be roles that Ziva cannot play simply because she is a woman.”

“Agent Balboa is capable undercover.” Tony commented evenly. “He assisted me when I was working with the FBI earlier this year.”

Shepard’s expression tightened. “Yes, well, Agent Balboa may be able to assist in undercover operations, but Agent Torres’ skill set is by far superior. He will be a asset to this office.”

“I have no doubts, Jenny.” Tony said, offering her a smile to put her at ease. “I look forward to meeting him. Has he accepted the transfer?”

“Yes, he’ll be here in two weeks.”

“We won’t have a Team Lead for our second MCRT for at least a month.” Tony reminded her. “I was hoping to be able to keep Agent Marshall as their acting Team Leader until then - especially since the first MCRT’s Senior Field Agent will probably start at the same time.”

“That will leave the roster one team short.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Tony acknowledged. “But better that than two teams short several members.”

Shepard raised an eyebrow. “At my count both teams would only be one member short. Ziva will be back by then.”

“Torres has no investigative experience and he’s only been out of FLETC for eighteen months. He’s a probie.” Paul said, shifting forward in his chair. “Meanwhile, Officer David has never attended FLETC and so is a legal liability to the chain of evidence.”

“Ziva is a trained Mossad officer!” Shepard snapped. “Not to mention that she’s been trained by Gibbs for nine months. She is not a liability!”

“Officer David has many skills that are a credit to Mossad.” Tony agreed calmly, hoping that Paul wouldn’t mind. “As you alluded to earlier, her undercover skills alone are an asset to this office.”

“We’re lucky to have her.”

Tony hummed non-committedly. He wasn’t willing to go that far; he was trying to avoid lying through his teeth. “However, while we know that Officer David is a skilled liaison, I’m concerned that a defense lawyer might convince a judge to only see her as an Israeli ex-pat who hasn’t received the required training. Officer David’s liaison position at NCIS could be jeopardised if evidence is thrown out due to her having handled it. But that’s easily fixed. We just need to ensure that all of our ducks are in a row.”

“Which means what exactly?” Shepard asked, sounding more curious than angry.

“With your permission, we’ll sign Officer David up for a FLETC course.” 

“Such as?”

“I think the Criminal Investigation Training Program would be the best fit.”

Shepard pursed her lips. “Ziva has been training with Gibbs for most of a year. I don’t think a three month course is necessary.”

“I’m not suggesting that Officer David needs it personally, Jenny.” Tony reassured her. “But if we can show a judge that she has completed the appropriate training program then we can protect her from any possible fallout.”

“Surely a shorter course would be enough.”

Tony sighed. “If she’d been English, or even Australian, then it might be , but we all know how unreasonable people can get about ex-pats from that area of the world. We want to be sure that we can protect her from anything other agencies might want to try and throw at her.”

“You mean you want to protect NCIS.” Shepard accused, but she didn’t sound too upset about it.

“That is part of my motivation,” Tony admitted. “But I have dedicated my life to justice, Jenny - and that includes justice for Officer David.”

Shepard studied his expression. Tony wondered what she was seeing. He figured her next sentence would say a lot about whether or not she was buying his act.

“Thank you, Tony,” She said eventually, with a pleased smile. “I’m glad to have your support on this.”

“Of course, Jenny.” Tony said, returning her smile. “Now, I know we discussed Officer David’s paperwork last week so I’m hesitant to bring the subject up again, but I would feel much more capable of protecting her if I knew what agreements had been put into place.”

Shepard’s smile became strained. “I’m perfectly capable of protecting Ziva from this office, Tony.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second.” Tony assured her. “But you are responsible for the protection of over two thousand employees, spread over forty countries.”

“Forty one.” Shepard corrected, already smiling easier.

“Forty one countries is a lot!” Tony said, with feeling. He leaned forward with an earnest expression. “You have a lot on your plate, Jenny, trust me to help you protect the people who I’m responsible for.” 

Paul cleared his throat. “Sounds as though I could retire two weeks early after all.” He sounded amused. “I told you he was right for the job, Jenny. He doesn’t start for another two weeks and he’s already going to bat for our people.”

“Yes,” Shepard was still smiling. “He is, isn’t he? I believe we’ll work well together, Tony.”

“I’ll do my best to be the assistant director you need.” Tony promised sincerely, and he would to. He just doubted that he would be the assistant director that she wanted.

7-7-7

Paul didn’t say anything when they left Shepard’s office a few minutes later. They walked down the stairs in silence, and then Tony silently followed the older agent into the elevator. By the time the elevator let them out onto their floor, Tony’s stomach had twisted itself into knots. He knew it had been a risk to begin playing his role with the director when Paul was there, but he hadn’t had a choice. It had either been now or never.

“Two coffees please, Juliet.” Paul said, his first words since they had left Shepard’s office.

“Yes, sir, coming right up.”

Tony followed Paul into his office, and then took the initiative to shut the door behind them. 

Paul didn’t waste any time. “What happened up there, Tony?” He asked, standing beside his desk. “That wasn’t what we had discussed.”

“No, sir,” Tony admitted, relieved to see that Paul seemed more confused that angry. “I’m sorry. I should have let you know what I was planning on doing.”

“Yes, you damn well should have.” Paul said frustratedly. “You lied straight to the director’s face.”

Tony’s stomach twisted uncomfortably. He was going to get fired. “No, I didn’t. I was very careful not to.”

“You and I both know that David is not an asset to this agency!” 

“No, she’s a liability.” Tony agreed. “But there have been occasions when her undercover skills have been useful to us.”

“You said you didn’t think she needed a FLETC course.” 

“I said that I wasn’t suggesting that she needed them.” Tony clarified. “Which I wasn’t, because I knew that Director Shepard wouldn’t listen.”

Paul sighed as he moved around is desk and sat down. “Those are semantics, Tony, and you know it. If Jenny knew that you’d lied to her… Well, I think we can both imagine how she might react. Sit down already.”

“You knew I wasn’t a fan of Shepard when you promoted me, Paul.” Tony reminded him, sitting down and leaning forward in his chair so his elbows were on his knees. “I will do everything I can to defend this agency, and the people in it - even if that means defending them from the director.”

Paul frowned. “I know you don’t like her personally, Tony, but Jenny wouldn’t do anything to hurt NCIS.”

Tony rubbed his hand over his face. “I hope not, but right now there are too many things that don’t add up.”

“Like Officer David.” 

“She calls her Ziva.” Tony exclaimed. “Not to mention the fact that she is insisting on Agent Torres for MCRT one. I want to know why she wants an undercover agent so badly.”

“Undercover agents are useful to have. You know that first hand.”

“But I’m still here.” Tony pointed out. “I’ll still be available to go undercover if need be - it isn’t as though this is a high profile position. Besides, there are several other agents in the officer who are more than competent going undercover for a few hours. So why does she need someone like Agent Torres? I’ve never heard of an undercover agent joining a MCRT team before.”

Paul frowned. “You think she has a reason?”

“How often has she chosen a new agent without giving you any say in the matter in the past?”

“She’s only been here for a year, but just Officer David.”

Tony nodded, that was what he’d been expecting. “Aren’t you a little suspicious about what is so special about David and Torres?”

“Surely that doesn’t have to result in your performance up there.” Paul waved toward the ceiling. “It was as though you were pretending to be someone else.”

“She’s a politician, Paul.” Tony reminded him. “Worse, she’s a politician with an inferiority complex. Just being me wasn’t going to work. Besides, we all behave a little differently at work - that’s just common sense.”

Paul shook his head with a sigh. “I knew you’d be good at this role, Tony.”

“But?” Tony prompted, when Paul didn’t continue.

“But nothing - unless it’s that I think even I underestimated how good you’d be. It makes me glad to be retiring. You’ll do better than I ever have.”


	8. Chapter 8

“Hotch? Do you have a minute?” JJ’s mouth was dry as she knocked gently on his open office door. She still wasn’t convinced that this was the best idea, but she was trusting Tony and Derek. She just hoped that Hotch was as understanding as they had been. It made her glad that Gideon wasn’t in charge of the unit any more - most days he didn’t seem to have an understanding bone in his body.

“Of course, come in, JJ.” Hotch looked away from his computer, turning his chair slightly so he was facing her. “What do you need?”

JJ’s stomach felt as though it was twisted in knots as she entered the office and closed the door behind her. “I, uh,” She swallowed in an effort to wet her mouth. “I…”

Hotch looked concerned as he stood up and moved around the desk. “Is everything alright?”

JJ could feel her cheeks heating up. She hoped they didn’t look as red as they felt. This was humiliating enough.

“Have a seat.” Hotch said, guiding her to the couch with his hand on her elbow. He pushed a nearby chair closer, before sitting down. “What do you need from me?”

JJ swallowed again. “I’m sorry, this isn’t as big of a deal as I’m making it look. I just, I’ve never done this before.”

“Done what?”

JJ drew in a fortifying breath. “Made a complaint against a colleague.”

Hotch’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t say anything. He just patiently waited for her to continue.

JJ tried to order her thoughts. She’d lain away for hours the night before trying to figure out how she would approach the issue with Hotch. So far she hadn’t exactly been following the plan, but that wasn’t to say that she couldn’t get back on track.

“Last year, when we were an agent short, Penelope and I were talking about who the new agent might be.” She started. “We predicted that, if the pattern continued, it would be a woman who would be committed to proving that she was just as good as the guys.”

The corners of Hotch’s mouth turned up. “I’m impressed.”

JJ shrugged. “That describes the last three agents who have held Elle’s position. I understand that it’s important for the team to have a female agent, and I understand the need to prove yourself - I went to FLETC too. But Elle is so obsessed with proving herself that she’s creating an environment that I don’t feel safe working in.”

Hotch’s expression was serious. “Can you give me some examples?”

JJ rubbed her hands on her trousers. “Before I do, I want you to know that I understand how petty this all sounds. I wouldn’t even be in here talking to you about it, except Derek insisted on it and then Tony agreed.”

“So far you haven’t said anything that sounds petty.” Hotch assured her. “You’ve talked to Morgan about this?”

“He’s witnessed a lot of it.” JJ explained. “At first it didn’t seem like much - just the same things that I always get from the new agents.”

“Such as?”

“Well, they’re trying to prove that they belong here so they look for the weak link. I’m not a profiler, and all the agents in this unit outrank me, so they just tend to be really superior around me. They make snide comments about how much more important their jobs are, and how much more qualified they are. Just the usual power plays. Penelope and I are pretty used to it.”

Hotch’s expression tightened. “But something changed?”

“I don’t even know when it changed.” JJ admitted, insecurity flooding through her again. Everything was just so wishy-washy. “When Tony was arrested a few months ago, she made some comments about how it just went to show that I couldn’t trust him. We’d been talking a few hours earlier about how long it took before you could trust someone. She said two years, and then made it pretty clear that she thought Tony and I had made a mistake moving in together. She brought all that up again, and said that it just proved her point. 

“I didn’t react very well.” She admitted with a blush. “I can’t remember what I said, but it was bad enough that she threatened to write me up for insubordination. Derek stood up for me. He convinced her not to. Said something about how he’d report her for baiting me in a time of crisis.”

“I’m sorry, JJ,” Hotch said, his tone soothing. JJ could see why he was so good with victims. “I know that was a difficult time for you.”

“Most of the time she’s not that bad - it’s just snide, condescending comments and dark looks - but then last week, when I was telling Derek about Tony’s promotion, she made a comment about how it wasn’t a big deal because it was just NCIS. When I tried to defend Tony she told me I was taking the ‘love is blind’ thing too far. Which I could have handled, but then she said that ‘pushing papers didn’t help people’ and I sort of lost it.”

JJ put her face in her hands. “I know that I’m not a profiler like the rest of the team, and that I don’t help solve cases, but I really do believe that my job helps people. That’s why I joined the FBI.”

“Of course you help people.” Hotch said confidently. “We couldn’t do what we do without you.”

JJ let out a bitter laugh as she let her hands drop. “That’s what I said. As I said, Hotch, I know that I’m not a profiler - I don’t want to be. I know that that the profilers in the unit are a lot more important than I am. I’m not trying to cause trouble here. I just don’t know what to do anymore. Derek’s saved me from getting written up for insubordination twice in the last couple of months, but one day he won’t be there and I’m afraid I’ll react badly again and end up losing my job. I don’t even know what I expect you to do, but Tony and Derek both said I needed to talk to you.”

“I’m glad you did.” Hotch said. “I owe you an apology, JJ. You are an essential part of our team - you certainly aren’t less important than the profilers. And you aren’t less qualified either - your qualification is just in a different area.”

“It’s not your fault, Hotch.” JJ assured him. “You’ve never made me feel less than a full member of the team.”

Hotch pressed his lips together. “What did Agent Dinozzo say when you told him about this?” 

“He’s the one who told me I should tell you that I felt as though Elle was causing an ‘unsafe working environment’.” JJ admitted. “He said that you’d want to know.”

“He was right. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” Hotch said. “Are you alright with me asking Morgan about his observations on this matter?”

“Of course.”

8-8-8

JJ walked out of Hotch’s office feeling as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was relieving to know that Derek and Tony had been right, Hotch had wanted to know how she was feeling. All her fears had been put to rest. Hotch hadn’t laughed at the pettiness of the situation, and he hadn’t gotten angry at her for making a complaint about one of the profilers in the team; he’d really listened. 

Walking across to her own office, JJ resisted the urge to look over to Elle’s desk which was angled to face Hotch’s office door. She knew Elle probably wasn’t even looking in her direction, but JJ still didn’t want to give Elle any reason to be suspicious of why she had been talking to Hotch. 

Her office phone started ringing just as she reached the door, so JJ took a few seconds to sit down at her desk before answering it.

“Agent Jareau speaking.”

“Hey,” Derek’s voice came through the receiver. “You alright?”

“I’m fine.” JJ smiled. Derek liked to play that he was an ‘alpha-male’, but he could be very sweet. “You were right, Hotch was really good about it. He said he’d talk to you about what you’ve seen.”

“Yeah, I thought he would.” Derek admitted. “Do you want to go to that pizza place for lunch? You me, Penelope, and Reid?”

JJ glanced at her watch and was surprised to see that it was already after twelve. “What about Elle?”

“She’s down at the gun range. She’s due to re-qualify on Wednesday. So, lunch? Garcia’s already on her way up.”

“Sure,” JJ agreed, standing up and collecting her wallet from her top drawer. “I’ll be right down.”

They met at Derek’s desk, and then all piled into an elevator together - Derek and Penelope doing their usual over-the-top flirting dance. JJ shook her head in amusement as it got especially silly. She couldn’t imagine ever saying the sorts of things that Derek and Penelope said to each other - not even to Tony - but they clearly enjoyed it.

“Oh, yes, that’s just what I needed.” Penelope declared as they stepped outside into bright sunshine. “I love my Den of Wonder, but some days I just need some light that doesn’t come from a bulb.” She stretched out her arms and twirled around, her skirt swishing against her legs.

JJ laughed, she loved how free and shameless Penelope was. “Summer starts next week. Then you’ll have all the sun your heart could desire.” 

“We should have a barbecue.” Penelope announced, falling into step beside Reid. “Derek can host it.”

“Why me?” Derek asked, falling back so he was walking beside JJ - a few steps behind the others. “I don’t have a barbecue.”

“But you have a house.” Penelope pointed out. “JJ, Spencer, and I all live in apartment buildings. You can’t have a proper barbecue in an apartment building.”

“My house is a construction zone.” Derek argued. “Do you want to spend the barbecue with a hardhat on your head?”

“If that’s what you’re into.” Penelope answered suggestively. “Just the hardhat or shall I bring my steel-capped boots too?”

“Last year nine thousand and twenty nine people died of head injuries at construction sites.” Spencer commented. 

JJ rolled her eyes fondly. “We could always have our barbecue at a park. Tony and I went hiking in Rock Creek Park yesterday and there some spaces for that sort of thing.”

“You went hiking? Like, voluntarily?” Penelope asked incredulously. “Why would you do that?”

“Any stats on steel-capped boots, Reid?” Derek asked.

“Seventy five percent of workplace foot injuries occur when workers’ boots are not compliant to regulations.” Spencer answered easily.

JJ laughed softly, Spencer’s mind never ceased to amaze her. “Tony and I enjoy hiking. We went hiking and then we went to the Redskins game. Tony bought us Dream seats.”

Derek whistled. “Nice. How were they?”

“Incredible! The seats were leather recliners, and we had people bringing us free food and drinks for the whole game. We were practically on the field. I understand what people mean when they say that it’s hard to follow the game from there though. It was fine when the play was right in front of us, but we couldn’t see anything happening down the other end. I’m glad Tony bought Club seats for our season tickets. We’ll have a better view of the whole field from there.”

Derek groaned in envy. “Season club tickets? You’re one lucky woman.”

“I know.” JJ agreed smugly.

Derek chuckled. “Are you sure you’re okay about this morning?”

JJ glanced forward to check that Penelope and Spencer weren’t listening in and was glad to see that they were distracted by their own conversation. “I’m fine. You were right, and so was Tony; Hotch seemed glad that I had told him.” She couldn’t help but smile as she remembered Hotch’s sincere declaration that she was an essential part of the team. It had soothed an anxious part of her that she hadn’t even realised had existed.

8-8-8

Tony had never officially been involved in the process of hiring or promoting someone. Sure he’d been the one to suggest to Gibbs that they accept McGee as a probationary agent, but there hadn’t been anything official about that. (Not to mention, that his history with McGee didn’t exactly fill him with confidence for future situations.)

Technically, his and Paul’s sit down with Agent Phil Dayton wasn’t an interview - it was more of a wooing than anything - but it was still the closest thing to an interview that Tony had ever helped conduct. So Tony was more than a little nervous about Paul asking him to take the lead. He had no idea what he was doing.

“Agent Dayton, I don’t believe you know Agent Dinozzo who will be taking over for me in two weeks.” Paul said, as he led Dayton into the small meeting room that they were using. The privacy of the room was great, but the lights left something to be desired. They were so bright and fluorescent that they were reflecting off Dayton’s shaved head.

“No, sir.” Agent Philip Dayton admitted, offering a hand for Tony to shake. “It is a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Likewise, Agent Dayton.” Tony said, giving the man’s hand a firm shake. “Have a seat.”

“Thank you, sir.” Dayton stiffly in the chair the Paul pointed him towards.

“You were a Senior Chief before you were honorably discharged from the Navy nine years ago, is that right?” 

“Yes, sir.” Dayton answered formally. Military background practically oozed out of the man.

“Just Tony’s fine, Agent Dayton.” Tony told him, it felt strange to have a man near Gibbs’ age calling him ‘sir’. “I’m not one to stand on ceremony.”

“It’s Phil then.” Dayton said, relaxing back into his chair.

Tony offered the man a pleased grin. “Alright then, Phil, you’ve been with NCIS for just under ten years, and a Senior Field Agent for four of those years. How are you finding Rhode Island?”

Phil shrugged a shoulder. “It is what it is.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, that was not what he’d been expecting. “Anything we should know about?”

“It’s a good enough field office to work out of. Good people there. But I’ve been finding it a bit…tame, I guess.”

“You’re bored.” Tony concluded.

Phil grimaced. “I don’t think I’m cut out for a life of solving white-collar crimes. I haven’t fired my weapon all year.”

“Have you considered putting in for a transfer?” 

“A few times, but it never seemed worth it. Like I said, my field office has good people and I didn’t want to leave them in the lurch.”

“Is it hard to transition from being sent places in the military to being able to request positions at NCIS?” 

“Yes, sir.” Phil acknowledged. “You’d think I’d be used to it after nine years, but it still feels strange to me. I take it you don’t have a military background?”

“Not unless you count a year at Remington Military Academy, which I don’t.” Tony admitted. “I was a police detective before joining NCIS.”

“Remington on Rhode Island? I hear it’s a good school.”

“It had its moments.” Tony agreed, forcing a grin. “Best boarding school I went to, that’s for sure. Anyway, I don’t know how much you’ve heard about our staffing changes here in Washington?”

“Well, we’ve heard about your promotion, and rumour has it that Agent Gibbs has retired.” 

“Agent Gibbs has resigned.” Tony corrected, he had no idea where the retirement rumour had come from. Gibbs didn’t qualify for early retirement. He wasn’t old enough, and he hadn’t done the minimum number of years service to qualify for an early retirement. “Which leaves us with several empty positions. Agent Marshall, Gibbs’ Senior Field Agent will be stepping into the Team Lead role for MCRT One; and Agent Barrett, from our Resident Unit in London, has agreed to take over from me in MCRT Two. We’ve flown you down to ask if you’d be willing to be Agent Marshall’s Senior Field Agent.”

“Yes.” Phil answered immediately. “When can I start?”

Tony blinked. “That was quick. I was expecting to have to try and convince you. I want to you know that your name did come up in our discussion over who would take the lead of MCRT Two, and I do expect to have a Team Lead position for you in the next few years.”

“I’m ready for a change.” Phil admitted. “I’ve been at the Rhode Island Field Office for six years. That’s the longest time I’ve spent anywhere in my life. My father was a Petty Officer - we moved around a lot.”

“We’ll be offering you a pay increase - it will put at the top of the SFA pay-scale - you could consider it combat pay.”

Phil’s eyebrows rose. “For an NCIS position?”

“MCRT One has a bit of an odd makeup.” Tony explained. “Agent Marshall’s background is similar to yours - he was a marine sergeant major before being honorably discharged with a purple heart. The other members of the team are a Mossad Liaison Officer, Ziva David; and Probationary Agent Nick Torres who has spent his eighteen months with NCIS working undercover. This will be his first investigative position.”

“A Mossad Officer?”

“Israel is one of the United States closest allies,” Tony reminded him. “And NCIS works closely with Mossad in many of our international operations. Officer David’s position is helping strengthen the cooperation of our two agencies. That being said, Officer David is not the most diplomatic of operatives and you may find her rather difficult to work with. Paul, Director Shepard, and I simply ask that you conduct yourself as we would expect from both an NCIS Senior Field Agent and a United States Navy Senior Chief.”

Phil straightened in his chair, his expression serious. “Yes, sir. I won’t let you down.”

Tony nodded gravely, the responsibility of his new position settling in his stomach like a rock. “Thank you, Phil. I appreciate that.”

8-8-8


	9. Chapter 9

With all the spaces in the MCRTs finally filled, Tony spent the rest of his week learning about the paperwork he would have to do as Assistant Director, familiarizing himself with NCIS’ policies, and accompanying Paul to three of the Resident Agencies that fell under the jurisdiction of the Washington Office. None of it was thrilling and, by the time they were driving away from the Quantico Resident Agency, Tony was sick of having to prove himself to other agents. He doubted it was going to get any easier though. The Resident Units at the Pentagon and Annapolis would probably be about the same, but sometime in the next few months he was going to have to start visiting the other Field Offices and he couldn’t imagine that the agents who ran them were going to make life easy for him.

Tony rubbed his forehead tiredly as he squinted at the glaring computer screen in front of him. He really needed a coffee. Unfortunately Juliet was long gone for the day which meant that he’d have to make his own coffee. Which wasn’t a problem, except despite having worked from the third floor for almost two weeks, he still hadn’t gotten around to asking Juliet where she was making the coffee. Which meant that he’d have to trek up to the staff room off the bullpen.

Maybe he should just go home and sleep. When Paul and Juliet had both left at five, Tony had waved them out without him so that he could finish reading the Health and Safety manual. That had been four hours ago, and Tony had since moved onto his third Health and Safety manual of the day. It was all good information, important information given how many of the regulations Tony regularly saw agents disregard, but the words were starting to blur in front of him.

The problem was that he didn’t want to go home. JJ’s team was down in Tampa, Florida, which meant that Tony would be home alone. At least at the office he could read his way through Health and Safety manuals and so try and convince himself that he would somehow be ready when Paul left in a week.

Scrolling down the document, Tony read the next few lines, blinked, and then went back to reread the lines when he realised that he hadn’t taken any of the information in. 

He really needed coffee.

Pushing himself to his feet, Tony grabbed the empty coffee cup from his desk and carried it to the elevator. Coffee from the bullpen might have been barely drinkable, but it was better than nothing. Next week he’d get Juliet to show him where to get his own coffee. 

As Tony rode the elevator up to the bullpen, he could feel yet another weight being added to the uncomfortable sinking feeling he’d had all week. It was just one more example of how much things had changed. He was having serious regrets about agreeing to take the job. He was a good agent. He’d been a good team lead. What made anyone think he’d be good at anything more than that? 

Stepping out into the bullpen, Tony’s eyebrows rose when he saw that his team - Andrew’s team, he corrected himself - were all still at their desks. It was a Friday night. Surely they had better things to do than be at work. He hoped their working late meant that they had caught a break in the double homicide they were working on and not that they were stumped and desperate for any kind of lead. Though their tired and frustrated expressions didn’t make it that likely.

Tony headed towards their workspace, letting his coffee mug hang from his left fingers. “How’s it going?”

Wardle and Francis looked startled as they jerked their attention away from their computer screens. 

“Tony!” Francis exclaimed, before wincing. “I mean, Assistant Director, sir.”

“Tony’s fine, Francis.” Tony assured him, before glancing at Asher and then Andrew. “Tough case?”

Asher groaned, running a hand over his face. “We’ve got nothing. No leads, no evidence, no witnesses. Nothing.”

“Yeah?” Tony asked, leaning some of his weight against the edge of the partition that offered the team privacy. “Want to run it past a fresh pair of eyes?”

Andrew’s mouth tightened. “You got time?”

“Sure,” Tony agreed easily. “Double homicide, right?”

“Right,” Asher agreed. “Campfire?”

Tony glanced towards Andrew questioningly. It was his team now.

Andrew looked relieved. “Sounds good to me. How about we get some more coffee first?”

“At this hour?” Francis frowned.

“Oh, don’t even start.” Asher grumbled, retrieving an empty mug from his desk. “You don’t drink coffee at any hour.”

“Because it’s bad for you.” Francis retorted. “How do you expect to sleep tonight if you pump your body full of caffeine this late?”

“Caffeine doesn’t affect me.” Asher retorted breezily, as he passed Francis’ desk on his way to the Break Room.

Francis snorted as his long strides easily caught up to Asher. Wardle had to jog a few steps to keep up. “I dare you to go a week without caffeine and then say that again.”

“Not a chance.” Asher said flatly. “Barb’s due in five weeks. Now is not the time for me to give up on coffee.”

“Oh, so you’re saying it does affect you?”

Tony shook his head in amusement as he fell into step beside Andrew. “How’s it going?”

“Good.” Andrew sounded sincere. “They’re a great team.”

“They really are.” Tony agreed, guilt twisting his stomach as he remembered that Andrew would only be leading the team temporarily before being returned to the first MCRT.

“They’ll make the transition easy for their next permanent Team Lead.” Andrew said evenly.

Tony swallowed down a wince. Technically Andrew didn’t know what had been decided for his future, and it wasn’t Tony’s place to tell him. Paul had said that he’d share the news before he left. Still, Tony wasn’t surprised that Andrew had figured it out though – there weren’t many agents that Tony would trust to lead a team with Ziva David in it.

“You trained them well.” Andrew continued. 

“Agent Turner trained them well.” Tony retorted. “I just continued the good work he had started.”

“Heh,” Andrew’s grunt didn’t sound impressed. “I take it JJ’s out of town?”

“Florida, she left this morning.” Tony sighed. “How did you know?”

“You’re here.” Andrew pointed out. “They’re after the guy drowning women? It’s been on the news.”

“Yeah,” Tony grimaced. “They’re having trouble finding the guy. Apparently he’s a bit of a chameleon. They really don’t have time to mess around either. He’s killed five women so far; and there’s a sixth one missing.”

“Hell. That puts our double homicide into perspective. At least we don’t have a clock ticking till the next victim.” ” Andrew said, as they entered the Break Room.

“Asher and Wardle took the last two cups of coffee.” Francis greeted them, his large hands wrapped around a steaming mug. “But I have some extra peppermint tea if you’d like?”

“Or you could just wait three minutes until the next jug of coffee is done.” Asher added.

“I’ll wait.” Tony said, with feeling. “Why don’t you guys catch me up on the case while we wait?”

“Good idea,” Andrew agreed. “Wardle?”

Wardle’s back stiffened, as she drew herself to a form of attention. “Yes, sir. Petty Officer, third class, Peter Romano, and Petty Officer, second class, Kenneth Norton, were found dead in an alleyway yesterday morning. Doctor Mallard believes that they were killed in the early hours of the morning.”

“Francis?” Andrew prompted.

“Their bodies were found by Justin Rolling, the owner of a antiques store whose side door opens out into the alley.” Francis picked up the narrative. “He was putting out the trash when he saw them.”

“What’s the cause of death?” Tony asked.

“Norton was killed by two bullets to the chest.”

“From what range?”

“Rachel, down in forensics, estimates somewhere between six to ten feet.” Asher answered.

Tony tilted his head to the side as he tried to picture it. “Okay, how many bullets did Romano take?”

“Just the one, to the back of the head. Point blank range.”

“Huh,” Tony said. “That’s interesting.”

“It is?” Wardle asked.

“I think you mean confusing.” Francis grumbled.

Tony glanced at Asher and then Andrew. “So, what are your thoughts?”

“We know there were at least two different shooters.” Francis offered.

“No, we know there were two guns.” Wardle argued.

“No one is going to bother using two different guns to kill two guys in the same alley way.” Francis retorted. “Six feet isn’t that far. By the time he’d switched guns, Romano could have tackled him.”

Tony ignored their bickering as he raised an eyebrow questioningly at Asher.

“There’s nothing in their lives that makes a good motive.” Asher said. “Romano and Norton were model sailors. Nothing unusual in their files, bank accounts, or houses.”

“We backtracked their movements the night of their death. They were at a bar, but only Romano drank alcohol. Norton stuck to straight cola.” Francis added. 

“Why were they in the alley way?” Tony asked.

“It was a shortcut back to Norton’s car.” Wardle explained. “The keys were in his pocket.”

Tony glanced at Andrew questioningly, wondering if there was anything more. 

Andrew shrugged a shoulder, looking defeated. “We’re at a dead end.”

“No, you’re not.” Tony said, as the coffee pot’s light turned green. “Coffee’s ready.”

Asher held out a hand for Tony to pass him his mug. “What are we missing?”

“What’s the strangest part of this case?” Tony asked them.

“The lack of motive?” Wardle asked tentatively.

Tony shook his head. “Most cases don’t seem to have a motive - until you find it.”

“Well, judging by your reaction before, I’m going to go with the causes of death.” Asher said.

“Think about the different multiple homicides you’ve come across.” Tony instructed them. “What’s different about this one?”

There was a long pause, before Andrew spoke. “The causes of death are deliberately different. Normally they’re the same. How did we miss that?”

“You were treating it like two single homicides.” Tony explained. “Which, normally, wouldn’t have been a problem.”

“But why does it matter?” Francis asked with a frown. “What difference does it make?”

“Imagine that you are our murders.” Tony instructed them, smiling when Francis and Wardle perked up. “You confront Romano and Norton in the alleyway. One of you immediately shoots Norton, twice in the chest with a silenced gun. Then you all turn your attention to Romano. You get close to him. Make him kneel on the ground, before one of you puts another silenced gun to the back of his head and pulls the trigger.”

“How do you know he was kneeling?” Francis asked. “We didn’t tell you that. You haven’t even seen the photos.”

“Single gunshot to the back of the head?” Tony asked rhetorically. “He was kneeling.”

“Norton was collateral damage.” Asher realised. “They just wanted him out of the way.” 

“Just like in Harry Potter when Peter Pettigrew killed Cedric Diggory.” Tony agreed.

“You think it was a mob execution?” Asher asked, sounding thoughtful.

“Wait, what?” Francis asked. 

“Mob execution?” Wardle asked.

“Single gun shot to the back of the head of a kneeling man?” Tony asked. “Silencer on two untraceable guns, no evidence, nothing stolen? Someone was trying to send a message.”

“But how do you know that gun was silenced?” Francis asked.

“The bodies weren’t found for six hours.” Tony reminded them. “You said the alley was between the bar and their car? That means that there should have been people who heard the gunshots.”

“Okay, presuming all that is true, who is the message for?” Asher asked.

“Now that is the question.” Tony agreed. “But, given that one of your victims has a name like Romano, I’d start with his family.”

“Not every Italian is connected to the mob, Tony.” Asher reminded him.

“Yeah,” Francis agreed. “You’re Italian, right? And you’re not.”

Tony grinned. “I am actually - second cousins, several times removed - but then I’m a bad example. It might be a dead end, but it’s a place to start at least. That being said, it’s nine o’clock on a Friday night and you guys have the weekend off. What are you still doing here?”

“Without a motive we weren’t sure if the shooting was an isolated incident,” Asher explained, as Francis nodded in agreement. “We didn’t want to risk more deaths by giving up.”

“Taking time off is not giving up.” Tony told them seriously. “Sometimes the fresh eyes that comes from a good sleep is all that’s standing between you and a breakthrough in a case. Besides, NCIS regulations require agents to apply for approval for any overtime of more than six hours a week and,” He paused, glancing down at his watch. “At my count you’re currently four hours and seven minutes into overtime just today.”

“Seriously?” Asher asked. “Overtime has to be approved?”

“It’s in the regulations.” Tony confirmed. “And, as of a week from now, that regulation will be enforced. No reason why you can’t start following it a week early.”

Andrew snorted. “Can you imagine what Gibbs’ reaction would be?”

Tony shuddered, it wouldn’t have been pretty. “There’s nothing more for you to do on this case tonight. Go home, enjoy the weekend off and come back with fresh eyes on Monday.”

“Seriously?” Francis asked, glancing between Tony and Andrew. “Just like that?”

“Go home, Francis, Wardle.” Andrew said. “Good work today. We ruled out a lot of possibilities.”

“Yes! The weekend has arrived!” Francis declared, already moving for the door. “See you all on Monday!”

“Have a good weekend, sirs.” Wardle said, quickly following Francis out of the room.

There was a long silence in the breakroom before Asher let out a groan. “I can’t believe we missed the execution angle. I feel so stupid.”

“You feel stupid?” Andrew asked. “This is only my second case as Team Lead and Tony managed to break the case in five minutes.”

“Don’t beat yourselves up about it.” Tony told them. “Not everyone is as familiar with Italian mobsters as I am. Besides, I really wasn’t kidding about the fresh eyes thing.”

“Not to mention your thirteen years of field experience and your Masters in Criminology.” Asher added. 

“Thirteen years?” Andrew sounded impressed. “Really?”

“A year and a half classified; six with the police; six years with NCIS.” Asher explained, as though Tony wasn’t in the room.

“Which is all really just to say that I didn’t have a career before this.” Tony pointed out.

“All I’m saying is that we don’t need to beat ourselves up over you seeing something that we missed.” Asher said airily. “There’s a reason they’re making you AD.”

Tony groaned and rubbed at his face. “Oh, don’t remind me. I still have no idea what I’m doing.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Andrew said evenly. “In the last half an hour you’ve advised us on a case, taught some junior agents, seen to your agents’ wellbeing, and announced a new regulation.”

“It’s a not a new regulation.” Tony defended. “Do you have any idea how many regulations we ignore?”

Asher winced. “I’m going to guess, a lot?”

“You have no idea.”

“There are whole pages that I’d never even heard of.” Tony sighed. “But I really don’t want to be the buzzkill who brings in stacks more paperwork.”

“So roll it in slowly.” Andrew suggested. “Start with this overtime thing and then choose another one to announce in a few weeks.”

Tony sighed again. “I wish I’d never accepted this job. I should have let someone who actually knows what they’re doing take over from Paul.”

Asher and Andrew exchanged a glance, and Tony’s stomach twisted anxiously. He shouldn’t have said anything. He had to remember that they weren’t just his friends, he was their boss. He needed to be strong; he needed to present a confident front.

Asher spoke first. “Take it from someone who has worked for you for the last six months, Tony, you’re going to be a a great AD. You’re smart, you know how the system works, you know how to be political about things, and you care about both people and justice. What more does an AD need?”

5-5-5

JJ shut her eyes as she leaned her head back against the wall. She really hated cases that required them to pull all-nighters. Not only was she not at her best in the early hours of the morning; but there was never much for her to do in the middle of the night. She wasn’t a profiler. She was a liaison and, unless something big happened, there weren’t many people for her to liaise with at three in the morning.

She supposed she could be at the hotel sleeping. Hotch had even suggested that she do just that, but it felt wrong to leave the team when she knew that they would be working all night. Besides, for all she knew they might break the case in the next hour and then they’d need her to help coordinated with the local law enforcement.

She was just glad that Elle was on the road with Derek rather than with them. She’d been finding the woman’s hostility even harder to deal with this week. Which was frustrating, but she suspected it was because both Tony and Derek had confirmed that Elle’s behaviour was unreasonable and so she was taking it more seriously. She hadn’t heard anything from her meeting with Hotch, though she did know that he’d pulled Derek into his office the day after she’d made the complaint. 

JJ wasn’t afraid of what Derek might have said - she trusted him - but she did wish she knew what was happening behind closed doors. Was Hotch going to do something? Would he call her and Elle in for mediation as Tony had predicted? What would she even say if he did?

“JJ?” Spencer sounded cautious. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah,” JJ forced her eyes open and looked over to where he was sitting surrounded by papers. “What do you need? I could get you a coffee?”

Spencer’s eyes lit up for a moment before shaking his head. “I’m alright, thank you.”

“Are you sure?” JJ asked, standing up and stretched her arms behind her. “I’m getting myself one.”

Spencer looked shy. “Well, if you’re having one.”

“One bitterly strong coffee coming up.” JJ promised, before turning her attention to the other side of the table. “Hotch, Gideon?”

Hotch jerked his attention away of the paper he was reading. “Yes?”

“Can I get you another coffee?” JJ asked.

Hotch glanced down at his watch with a grimace. “Yes, thank you.” He glanced towards Gideon who was staring at the whiteboard without any sign of having heard JJ and rolled his eyes. “Gideon will have one too.”

“Hmm?” Gideon asked, not looking away from the board.

“JJ’s getting another round of coffee.” Hotch explained, his eyes already refocusing on the paper in front of him.

“Oh, good.” 

JJ shook her head fondly as she left the room in search of coffee. She couldn’t imagine having a mind like Gideon’s, being so focused on a problem that she forgot about the people in the room around her. She wouldn’t want to and she definitely wouldn’t want Tony to. Gideon was brilliant, but she wouldn’t want to come home to someone like that. She wouldn’t want to be married to someone like him. 

Wait, what? JJ paused mid-step, halfway down the hallway towards the break room. Where had that thought come from? Since when had marriage even been part of the equation? Sure she’d always wanted to get married one day, and maybe she’d occasionally wondered if she and Tony might get there, but she couldn’t remember having ever connected the ideas of Tony and marriage so casually in her thoughts before. And for good reason. She and Tony had only just moved in together a few months ago. They hadn’t even been dating for a year. It was way to early to be thinking about marriage. Wasn’t it?


	10. Chapter 10

Despite having told Andrew’s team to take the weekend off their case and come back with fresh eyes, Tony spent the weekend turning the case over in his mind and considering different angles. He had no doubt that Petty Officer Romano had been executed and, if he was right, then he had been targeted. Which meant that there had to be a connection between the shooter (or whoever had hired them) and Romano. They just had to find it.

It was tempting to go back into the office and start making inquiries about Romano’s family background, but that felt too much like a ‘Gibbs’ move for Tony to be comfortable with the idea. Not to mention the fact that he wanted to set a good example for when he started enforcing the long-forgotten NCIS regulation about overtime. Thankfully, JJ got back on Saturday night and, while she was tired and sleep-deprived, a Sunday spent watching movies with her proved to be a good distraction from the case.

JJ’s team had been given Monday morning off, so Tony decided to take advantage of his new role and make her breakfast in bed before leaving. He still arrived at NCIS by eight, half an hour earlier than Paul did, but Tony didn’t think he’d back a habit of it. It felt strange to arrive when the building was already abuzz with staff, and Tony wasn’t sure he liked the message that it gave.

“Good morning, Agent Dinozzo,” Juliet greeted him with a smile that was tinged with curiosity. “Are you alright, sir?”

“Morning, Juliet,” Tony grinned. “I’m fine. Sorry, I should have let you know I was coming in a little later this morning. Next time I’ll text you.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that, sir.” Juliet assured him.

Tony thought he would anyway; it seemed polite. “While I remember, Juliet, where do you keep the coffee?”

Juliet’s eyebrows rose in surprise; her eyes dancing in amusement. “The coffee?”

“I never remember to ask you until its too late,” Tony explained. “And then it’s nine o’clock on a Friday night and I’m having to trek all the way up to the bullpen with my mug for the grossest coffee on earth.”

“You were here until nine?” 

“I’m used to pulling long days, and I’ve got a lot to catch up on. Coffee would help with that.”

Juliet shook her head. “I should hide the coffee from you just to make you go home on time.”

“But you won’t,” Tony said confidently. “Because would be cruel.”

10-10-10

Once he had a piping hot coffee in his hand, Tony made his way to the elevator to head up to the bullpen. It seemed so impractical to him that the Assistant Director’s office was on the third floor, with Finance and Human Resources, while the bullpen was on the fourth floor. He could see how in the past the Assistant Director had ended up being mostly irrelevant to what was happening in the bullpen. Which wasn’t what he wanted. 

Maybe that would have worked for him if his only role had been Assistant Director, but he was also supposed to be responsible for the day to day management of the Washington Field Office. He wanted to be present and available; not trapped down on the admin floor away from all the action. The problem was that there weren’t any empty offices on the fourth floor and, given the nature of his position, he was going to need the privacy of an office. Which meant that he couldn’t just commender a desk in the bullpen and work from there. Right?

Tony made his way through the bullpen towards his old team, exchanging greetings with other agents as he did so. They all looked pleased to see him and it made Tony realise that, while he’d had to put up with some passive-aggressive crap from the Resident Agencies he’s visited, no one from the bullpen had done anything except support him. 

“Hey, Tony,” Steve Cramer, the Agent in Charge of MCRT Four, greeted him. “Do you have a minute? We could really use your perspective on our case.”

“Sure,” Tony agreed, with an easy smile. “I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

Andrew, Asher, Francis, and Wardle were sitting behind their desks when Tony got to their part of the bullpen, and he was glad to see that they all looked more relaxed than they had on Friday night. Hopefully, they hadn’t spent the weekend obsessing about their case as he had.

“Morning, Tony,” Asher grinned, from behind his desk. “Good weekend?”

“Yeah, JJ got back Saturday night, so that was nice.”

“I saw that they caught the guy,” Andrew commented. “Sounded like a rough case.”

“All their cases are rough.” Tony said, leaning his arm on the partition that separated their team from nearby desks. “Have you had any new ideas for your double homicide?”

“We’re running down Romano’s background. Asher had a good idea though.”

Asher rubbed the back of his neck. “I was telling them how tight you are with the Feebie’s Organised Crime Unit. Any chance you could give them a call? Ask if they were paying any attention to Romano? Or anyone he knew?”

“Tight might be a bit of an exaggeration,” Tony cautioned uncomfortably. “But I’m happy to ask around. It’s a good idea. Where’s Romano’s family from?”

“Uh,” Francis shuffled some papers on his desk for a few seconds, before finding the paper he was looking for. “Philly.”

Tony chuckled. “Really? Well, I’d say your Organised Crime theory is getting more and more likely.”

“Your theory, you mean.” Andrew corrected good-naturedly. “Without you, we’d still be working around in circles.”

“You’d have gotten there eventually.” Tony told them confidently. “Anyway, I’ll call Agent Cramer this morning and get back to you.”

Francis glanced across the bullpen with a confused frown. “Does Agent Cramer have experience with this sort of case?”

“Huh?” Tony asked, twisting to follow Francis’ gaze. There didn’t seem to be anything happening. Just Cramer’s team working from their desks… “Oh, not Steve Cramer; Agent Josh Cramer, Head of the FBI’s Baltimore Organised Crime Unit. He should know who would be the best person to contact for information on Philly.” He turned back to Andrew. “You all good here?”

“Yes, sir.” Andrew confirmed, easily. 

He didn’t seem uncomfortable at having to call Tony ‘sir’, but Tony was pretty sure he was uncomfortable enough for the both of them. 

“Great! Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.” He said, a bit too brightly, before making his way back across the bullpen to MCRT Four’s desks and leaning against their partition. “Hey, Steve, any relation to an Agent Josh Cramer with the FBI in Baltimore?”

Steve shook his head slowly. “Not that I know of. Why?”

“Just curious.” Tony turned his attention to the case details displayed on the large screen. “What’ve you got?”

10-10-10

Tony was surprised to realise how easy it was to leave the bullpen and head back down to his temporary desk. After he’d given Cramer’s team a few suggestions of things they could consider, Kara Roberts who led MCRT Three had asked him to come and look at her case; and, by the time he was riding the elevator down to the third level, he’d spent over an hour moving around the bullpen and giving advice on the cases. It had been a great feeling and had reminded him how much he’d been missing investigating over the last two weeks so he’d expected to leave grudgingly, regretting the choice he’d made all the more; but instead, he felt refreshed and ready to get started on his own work. 

Which was confusing, thought-provoking, and relieving all at once. It wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting, and it didn’t fit what he’d thought he knew about himself, but it did give him hope that maybe he’d survive the transition to an administration role. He’d just have to get his regularly investigative fix in. Maybe he could try using the first hour of every morning to catch up with the teams? He’d just have to be careful that he didn’t become an irritating micro-manager.

“Agent Dinozzo, Assistant Director Stewart would like to see you.” Juliet announced, as soon as Tony made it make to his desk. “Would you like a coffee?”

“I always want coffee.” Tony passed across his empty coffee cup, pointedly ignoring the worried feeling he always got when Paul asked to see him. It wasn’t as though Paul was going to change his mind and yank the promotion out from under his feet. Right?

“Ah, Tony,” Paul said brightly, as Tony pushed the door open. “Come in, have a seat. How are you this morning?”

Tony let out a deep breath as he dropped into his usual chair. “How about we push your retirement back a few weeks? Maybe a month?”

Paul chuckled. He seemed happier and more relaxed than Tony had ever seen him. “Oh no, five more days and then I’m out of here - and not just because Angela would have my head. Did I tell that we booked a cruise? This time next week I’ll be embarking a cruise ship headed for the Caribbean.”

“Very nice. It almost makes me wish my retirement wasn’t so far away.” Tony joked.

“You’ve got another few decades left in you yet.” Paul reminded him. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“Says the man itching to leave.” Tony grinned, before leaning forward. “So, what’s the plan for today?”

“Well,” Paul stood up and moved around the desk, before leaning back against it. 

Tony tilted his head thoughtfully as the movement drew his attention to the desk. There was something different about it. It looked larger, less cluttered. In fact, it looked completely empty. No papers, no pens, not even Paul’s family pictures. 

“Congratulations, Tony,” Paul said, drawing Tony’s attention back to him. “As of this moment, you’re the acting Assistant Director of Criminal Operation.”

Tony stared at him, his mouth dry. “But you have five more days.”

“I’ll still be here.” Paul assured him. “I talked to Jenny and we agreed that I’d be taking a backseat this week. I’ll be tying up a few loose ends and I’ll be here if you have any questions you want to run past me but, as of now, I’m passing the reins to you, Assistant Director Dinozzo.”

Tony swallowed. “I don’t know what to say.” Though there were a few four-letter words that he thought summed the situation well. 

Paul moved to sit in the empty seat beside Tony. “I am absolute confidence in you, Tony. I wouldn’t have offered you the position if I didn’t. You will do a great job and, this way, you’ll have a week to figure out all the last minute questions that you want to ask me.”

“Right.” Tony let out a shaky breath. He could do this. “Can I ask what sorts of things you’ll be doing this week?”

“Just the last few pieces of paperwork.” Paul shrugged. “And ensuring the Gibbs resignation is properly processed.”

Tony frowned. “I thought that would've been done by now. Gibbs has been gone for two weeks.”

“Someone has been interfering with the process.” Paul said, glancing toward the ceiling. “I may end up burning a few bridges this week, but I’ll do my best not to let any of the flack fall on you.”

“Better a bit of flack now than Gibbs later.” Tony said, with meaning. He looked around the office, feeling more than a little lost. “So, what now?”

“Now I spend the next few hours getting you to speed on the things we haven’t talked about yet.” Paul said. “Did you have anything you wanted to get done today?”

“I was going to try and figure out when I could book Officer David in that FLETC course.” Tony admitted. “I’m hoping that if I get the exact dates nailed down I’ll be able to convince Shepard to sign off on it.”

“Technically you don’t need Shepard’s sign off. David is a liaison in your department.”

“You know that, and I know that, but I’m not sure Shepard would agree. It’ll be better in the long run if I play by her rules for now.” 

Paul didn’t disagree. “You don’t need to research FLETC courses yourself. You can ask Juliet to do those sorts of things for you.”

Tony glanced back towards the door that lead to Juliet’s desk. “I’ve never had an assistant before.”

“She’ll show you the ropes,” Paul said confidently. “I’ve tended to pass her the tasks that don’t need my direct input, but I need results for. Requisition forms, communicating with other departments, booking flights, those sorts of things.”

“And she doesn’t mind?”

“Did you mind doing the requisition forms when you were Gibbs’ Senior Field Agent?”

“No, it was my job.” Tony answered, before acknowledging Paul’s point with a nod. “Speaking of SFAs, when were you planning on letting Andrew know what we’ve decided.”

“That’s up to you, Assistant Director Dinozzo.” 

Tony swallowed down a grimace. “This was not what I was expecting when I came to work this morning.”

“I imagine not,” Paul acknowledged. “Sorry, I meant to let you know last week, but I kept forgetting.”

Tony sighed. “So I’m really the Assistant Director now?”

Paul spread out his hands. “This is your office. Cynthia should be sending out the email announcement at 10.”

Tony glanced down at his watch. “So in half an hour.”

“Knock, knock,” Juliet’s voice sounded from the door. “I have your coffees, Assistant Director Stewart, Agent Dinozzo.”

“Thank you, Juliet,” Paul pushed himself off the desk and took a step forward to accept one of the coffees. “But it’s the other way around now. As of this morning, Tony is the Assistant Director of Criminal Operations.”

Tony turned around just in time to see her surprised expression. 

“Oh,” Juliet glanced between them. “Well then, congratulations, Assistant Director Dinozzo.”

“Thank you,” Tony said, as he accepted the coffee from her. “I hope you’ll be patient with me. I was just telling Paul that I’ve never had an assistant before.”

“I’m sure we’ll do just fine, sir.” Juliet said, with a wide smile.

Tony wondered what it would take to convince her to call him by his first name. 

“What does Assistant Director Dinozzo’s schedule look like today, Juliet?” Paul asked.

“That depends, will he be taking over your schedule, sir?”

“What’s on my schedule?”

“You have a meeting with HR at eleven, a meeting with finance at one, and a meeting with Doctor Mallard at two. Also, Agent Vance, Agent Dale, and Agent Burley have all asked if you would be available to speak with them at some point today. Agent Burley’s request seemed especially urgent. Commander Coleman has asked for a meeting with you at your earliest convenience, and Assistant Director Peters’ assistant rang hoping to schedule a phone call with you. He is available until ten-thirty, and then after four.”

“Good, I was hoping we’d be able to ease Tony in with a light day.”

Tony’s mouth dropped open. That was a light day? He’d known Paul kept busy, but he’d had no idea that so many people would want him in the same day. How did the man get any paperwork done? No wonder he relied on Juliet to do research for him.

“I’ll take the HR meeting,” Paul decided. “But Tony can take the rest. Tony? When do you want things to be scheduled?”

“Uh,” Tony swallowed dryly, before remembering that he had a coffee in his hand. He took a sip, and then another. “Can we call Agent Burley back immediately and schedule a call with Assistant Director Peters for ten-fifteen? I’ll leave it to you to arrange the other meetings throughout the day. I’ll need at least half an hour with Ducky, um, Doctor Mallard, I mean and, ah, should I go to Commander Coleman? Or will she come here?”

“Normally she would come to you,” Paul answered. “But this might be a good opportunity for you to introduce yourself to Major General Gordon Cresswell, our current Judge Advocate General of the Navy.”

“Right,” Tony glanced toward Juliet. “Can you see if we can set that up?”

“Of course, sir.” Juliet agreed brightly. “Is there anything else?”

“Um, yeah,” Tony paused to try and get his thoughts together. He needed to stop sounding so unsure about everything. He needed to stop being so unsure about everything. “I need to speak to Agent Josh Cramer, Head of the FBI’s Organised Crime Office in Baltimore. I’d like to meet with Agent Marshall later today. And I need to know the earliest date that I can send Officer David to FLECT.”

Juliet winced. “Sorry, sir. I should have brought a pen and paper in. I can just go…”

“Here.” Paul passed a pen and notepad across to her.

“Thank you, sir.” Juliet turned back to Tony. “If you wouldn’t mind repeating that, sir.”

Tony did so, slowly, before waiting for her to stop writing. “If you can, let FLECT know that it’s a rather emergent situation since the liaison in question is already handling evidence, but don’t book anything in yet. I want to run the dates past Director Shepard before anything is confirmed.”

“Yes, sir.” Juliet nodded briskly. “If that’s all, I’ll go arrange your calls with Agent Burley and Assistant Director Peters.”

“Thank you,” Tony nodded, before glancing down at his watch. It was already nine forty-five. He only had half an hour to finish his discussion with Paul and speak to Stan Burley, and then he’d be on a call with one of NCIS’ Assistant Directors. How was this his life?


	11. Chapter 11

Paul had only had time to give Tony the most basic briefing about Assistant Director Peters - a hard ass who had taken over as the Assistant Director of Intelligence and Information Sharing when Shepard was made the director - when Juliet was announcing that she’d arrange for a video call with Stan Burley in MTAC in five minutes.

Tony had never had much to do with MTAC in his time at NCIS - there wasn’t much cause for most agents to use the secure room for their communications - so it was just one more example of how much his job had changed. He made his way up in the elevator, before submitting to the eye scan that would gain him access.

It was strange to walk into the room without Paul, or Shepard, or even Gibbs there to guide him, but Tony forcefully put those thoughts out of his mind. He needed to be in the right head space to talk to Stan Burley. His only other interaction with the other agent had mostly involved Tony being jealous of Stan’s relationship with Gibbs, and he doubted that had left a particularly good impression.

Tony offered the MTAC operators a smile. He knew their names, of course - he knew the name of every agent and staff member in the Field Office - but he didn’t know much more about them. “I’m expecting a call from Agent Burley on-board the USS Enterprise.”

“Yes, sir.” Grady acknowledged. “That should be coming through any minute now.”

Tony accepted the headpiece that was offered to him with a grateful smile and carefully settled it over his ears. It was always so dark in MTAC - he didn’t know how Grady and Kearse handled it all day. He glanced towards the screen and, seeing that it was still blank, wandered over to the chairs and sat down to wait.

“Incoming call from the USS Enterprise, sir.” 

“Ah,” Tony jerked to his feet and straightened his suit jacket as video appeared on the screen in front of him. “Good morning, Stan.”

Stan looked taken aback. “Dinozzo? I thought… Is Gibbs with you?”

Tony sighed and tried to ignore the way his stomach was twisting nervously. “I take it you’re a bit behind on your agency gossip?”

“Being stationed afloat does tend to do that.” Stan said dryly. 

“Well, firstly, Agent Gibbs resigned from NCIS two weeks ago.”

“Gibbs resigned?” Stan’s mouth dropped open. “What…I…what happened?”

“The exact details are classified, but he received a rather severe head injury and then was involved in a case with a bad outcome.”

“The head injury,” Stan swallowed. “Is he still, you know, himself?”

“His memories are a bit knocked around, but the doctors expect him to make a full recovery. It will just take time.”

“Oh, good,” Stan’s mouth curled into a grim smile. “Thanks for letting me know, man. Is Assistant Director Stewart there? I need to talk to him.”

“Which would be the other piece of information that you’ve missed.” Tony said, not that he blamed him. He remembered how intermittently he’d been able to check his emails during his stint afloat. “Assistant Director Stewart is due to retire at the end of the week and, as of this morning, he has stepped down from his position. I’m the new Assistant Director of Criminal Operations.”

“You’re the new Assistant Director?”

“Yes.” Tony answered seriously. “I’m sorry, I’d give you some time to process the information but my assistant made it sound as though you needed to talk to me rather urgently.” Not to mention that Tony only had twenty minutes until his next meeting. “How can I help you, Stan?”

“Uh,” Stan shook his head slightly, before straightening in his seat. “Right, sorry. I have a bit of a situation here. Early this morning a Petty Officer found one of our female pilots, Lieutenant Crawford, naked and badly beaten in one of the engine rooms. She’s alive but the medical staff tells me that she was sexually assaulted. They’re pretty sure that the attacker wore a condom, but they’ve taken samples just in case and they’re on-route to the nearest NCIS forensics lab.”

Tony swallowed, why couldn’t his first morning have started off easily? “Where is that, Stan? I’m sorry, I’m not up to date on the USS Enterprises’ position.” 

“We’re about a hundred miles out from the Straight of Gibraltar,” Stan answered. “We sent the samples to Italy. They should be there in a few hours.”

“Good.” Tony nodded. “They took samples from under her nails too?”

“Yes, but they appeared clean too.”

“Is Lieutenant Crawford awake? Have you been able to take her statement?”

“Not yet.” Stan sounded frustrated. “Her injuries are pretty severe so they’re keeping her knocked out. I tried to get them to wake her up but…”

“Don’t wake her up before she’s ready.” Tony interrupted. “Lieutenant Crawford has gone through a painful experience which will have left her feeling helpless. The last thing we want to do is put her in a situation that is more painful, and more out of her control, than it needs to be.”

Stan’s jaw tightened. “But…”

“You’re on a ship, Stan. Whoever assaulted her isn’t going anywhere.” Tony reminded him, before having a sudden thought. “Who did you send the sample off with?”

“Two female pilots.” Stan answered stiffly. “We’re trying to keep the situation under wraps, but its sure to get out sometimes soon. The last thing we need is for all the women on board to be seeing every man as a rapist. We need to get him.”

“And we will.” Tony agreed. “I’ll arrange for some agents from the Naples office to come and assist you. Does the plane you sent to Naples have the capacity to transport agents back?”

“There’s only two spare seats.”

“Good. I’ll make sure at least one of them is be a woman and I’d rather she took the lead on the interview with Lieutenant Crawford when she wakes up.”

“Yes, sir.” Stan said, through a clenched jaw.

Tony sighed. “I’m not trying to step on your toes here, Stan. You’ll have the lead of the case. It’s your ship. You know the people. They won’t be coming to take over. Let’s just make sure that we don’t get so intent on catching the guy who did this that we forget that Lieutenant Crawford has needs.”

Stan nodded, looking a lot more relaxed than he had just a few second earlier. “Understood, sir.”

“Do you need anything else from me?” Tony asked.

“Not at the moment.”

“Okay, I’m going to sign off now so I can get in touch with our Naples office and arrange you some help. But let me know if you need anything else from me. Have you been in touch with JAG yet?”

“JAG?”

“They sometimes like to have one of their lawyers involve in the investigation. I’ll give them a call too.” He met Stan’s eyes. “Call me if you need anything else. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Stan nodded. “Thank you.”

“All the best, Stan.” Tony said, before glancing towards the operators and signaling for the call to be ended. “Get me someone at JAG.”

11-11-11 

It took Tony ten minutes to confirm that JAG didn’t want to send a lawyer twelve hours across the Atlantic Ocean to supervise the case, by which time he only had four minutes until he was due to talk to Assistant Director Peters. Which was a problem, because his number one priority really needed to be arranging agents to be sent to assist Stan.

Pulling out his cellphone, Tony flipped it open and quickly pulled up Juliet’s number.

She answered after the second ring. “Yes, Assistant Director?” 

“I need to push my call with Assistant Director Peters back five minutes. Can you let his office know?”

“Of course, sir.” Juliet answered immediately. “He is only available until ten thirty though.”

Tony glanced down at his watch - 10:13. “Yeah, well, I’ll try to be as quick as I can.”

“Would you like a coffee, sir?”

“Please.” Tony answered with feeling. “Thank you, Juliet.” He closed his phone with a snap, before turning back to the Grady and Kearse who were sitting unobtrusively at their computers. “I need to speak to the Naples Field Office immediately.”

“Right away, sir.” Kearse acknowledged.

Tony bounced on his toes to try and burn some of his nervous energy. It only seemed to make things worse.

“Assistant Director Dinozzo for Agent Dale.” Kearse said into his own headset. “It’s urgent.”

Tony rolled his shoulders a few times before cracking his neck. He glanced down at his watch - 10:14.

“Assistant Director? We’ve only got audio.”

“That’s fine.” Tony assured Kearse. It was more than fine actually, since it took some of the pressure off him.

“Good morning, Assistant Director Dinozzo.” An unfamiliar woman’s voice came through Tony’s headset. “I’m sorry I’m not in a position to provide video from my end. I wasn’t expecting your call for another forty five minutes.”

“Good morning, Agent Dale. I know we haven’t been introduced yet, and I’m sorry but I don’t have time for the niceties right now. I’ll be calling you as scheduled later in the morning, but right now I have an unfolding situation that I need your help with.”

There was a pause, before Agent Dale spoke again. “Of course, sir. How can the Europe-Africa Field Office assist you today?”

“The USS Enterprise is currently about a hundred miles out of the Straight of Gibraltar. I need two of your agents, preferably female, to assist the Agent Afloat with a sexual assault case.”

“Female victim?” Agent Dale asked sharply.

“Yes,” Tony nodded, before remember that she couldn’t see him. “A pilot. As I understand it, she is currently sedated due to her injuries but she will need to be interviewed when she wakes up. I would prefer that interview was conducted by a woman.”

“Agreed.” Agent Dale acknowledged. “I presume the Agent Afloat is a man?”

“Agent Stan Burley.” Tony confirmed. “He’ll have lead of the investigation. He’s expecting some of your agents to join him in the next few hours. I presume that will be possible?”

“Yes, sir.” Agent Dale agreed. “They’ll be in the air just as soon as I can find them some transport.”

“There’s an aircraft from the USS Enterprise headed your way with forensic samples to be tested. Shouldn’t be more than an hour out from your location. Your agents can hitch a ride back with them.”

“That works for me.”

“Great,” Tony glanced down at his watch - 10:18. “Do you need anymore information from me, Agent Dale?”

“Nothing that can’t wait until our scheduled call in forty minutes.” Agent Dale said dryly. 

“I’ll speak to you then. Thank you for your assistance.” Tony said, before gesturing for the operators to end the call. 

“Sir?” Grady asked. “Your assistant is requesting entry.”

“Let her in.” Tony said, turning so that he could see the door when it opened. The sight of Juliet holding a mug of coffee was more than welcome. “Thank you!” He said, as she brought the coffee to him. “I have two agents from the Naples Field Office who need immediate transport to the USS Enterprise, and an aircraft from that ship due to arrive in Naples within the hour. Can you arrange for the agents to catch a ride back on the plane?”

Juliet looked surprised. “Uh, yes, sir? I’ll see what I can do.”

“Assistant Director Peters is calling, sir.” Kearse announced.

Tony quickly sipped at the burning hot coffee, before passing it back to Juliet. “Can you put it on the desk for me, please? And let me know if you have any trouble getting the flight arranged.” He added, before waving for Kearse put the call through.  
  
The room lit up as video of a gaunt, balding man appeared on the screen and Tony tried to remember everything Paul had told him about the Assistant Director of Intelligence and Information Sharing. The man’s severe expression was doing nothing to calm Tony’s nerves. Neither was the murmured conversation that Juliet was having with the operators.

“Good morning, Assistant Director Peters.” Tony offered him a professional smile. “I’m sorry about the delay. I had an emergent situation I needed to deal with.”

“Hmm,” Peters’ expression didn’t change. “I understand congratulations are in order, Assistant Director Dinozzo. I hear you’re a bit of a wild card.”

Tony wasn’t sure whether that was supposed to be a compliment or a dig.

“My counterpart at the FBI certainly has a lot to say about you.” Peters continued. “He tells me its a damn waste sticking you behind a desk. I think he’s just sore that he’ll never get another chance to have you assist on one of their cases. You raised a fair amount of interest after your run in with Russo in January. I tried to get Paul to let me put you undercover for a few months. Now I understand why he was such a stubborn ass about it.”

Tony wasn’t really sure what to say. “I’m as much an investigator as I am an undercover operative, Assistant Director Peters.”

“Hmm,” Peters didn’t look convinced, but his severe expression did lift slightly. “Call me Allister.”

“Tony then.” Tony offered. “I understand you’re on a tight schedule this morning, Allister. How can I help you?”

“Truth me told, I expected to be ripping Paul a new one this morning, but seeing that it’s your first day I’ll try and keep it friendly.

Tony swallowed dryly, his mind racing to try and figure out what Allister was talking about. “Lay it on me.”

“Agent Nicholas Torres.” Allister said flatly. 

“Ah,” Tony swallowed down a wince.

Allister narrowed his eyes. “He’s my agent, Dinozzo. I recruited him eighteen months ago. I even personally trained him for six months before I ended up sitting in this chair, and I won’t have him poached out from under me. You can’t just requisition one my agents without talking to me! And don’t even get me started on the fact that you went straight to Torres without running it past me first. I can hardly imagine the sheer arrogance that such a ballsy move required.”

“Allister?” Tony interrupted, before having to swallow down another wince when the man glared at him. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there seems to be a misunderstanding.”

“There is, is there? So you aren’t expecting my agent to join one of your teams in a few weeks?”

“I am, but Agent Torres’ transfer was instigated and ordered by Director Shepard. As as I understand it, she had already spoken to Agent Torres when she informed Paul and I of her decision.” Tony explained, desperately hoping that he wasn’t speaking out of turn. Not that it would have made much of a difference. He might have been willing to take crap from his subordinates about Shepard’s decisions, but he wasn’t going to let her poor judgment get in the way of his relationships with other Assistant Directors.

“I see.” Allister’s eye twitched. “Did Jenny tell why she wanted my agent?”

Tony glanced towards Grady and Kearse, hoping that their orders to keep things confidential extended to these sorts of conversations. “Director Shepard is concerned that my promotion leaves this field office without a competent male undercover agent.”

“You’re a criminal operations field office.” Allister snapped. “You don’t need undercover agents.”

“We regularly place an agent undercover as part of an investigation,” Tony started, before being interrupted by Allister.

“That is not within your purview!”

Tony shot him a glare. “Placing agents undercover to get information we need to solve a crime is absolutely within our purview; especially since they’re normally only undercover for an hour or less. That being said, the level of undercover skill our agents need is different to your agents who spend extended amounts of time undercover. You and I both know that it takes a very specialised agent to last undercover for more than a day.”

“It does.” Allister agreed. “Which is why you don’t need Torres.”

Tony spread our his hands in a gesture of apology. “I’m sorry, Allister, but you will have to discuss your concerns about Agent Torres’ transfer with Director Shepard.”

Allister’s expression twisted into a grimace. “I’m sure that would go down well.”

Tony offered him a sympathetic smile. He was glad to see that he wasn’t the only Assistant Director to find Shepard difficult. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be any more help. I promise that I will do all I can to keep Agent Torres in one piece until he is able to be transferred back to your division.” 

Allister nodded sharply, before glancing away from the camera as someone’s voice murmured in the background. “I appreciate that, Tony. I have a meeting I need to get to, but thank you for making the time to talk to me.”

Tony glanced down at his watch; it was o’ten thirty one. They’d almost managed to keep the meeting on time. “Anytime. I’m sorry to have made you run late.”

“Sometimes you just can’t help it.” Allister acknowledged. “Have a good day.”

Tony opened his mouth to reply, before closing it again when the screen turned blank. He raised a hand to his forehead and rubbed it tiredly, before remembering the coffee that Juliet had placed on the desk for him. Retrieving it, he took a long mouthful and swallowed it with a sigh.

He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do for the twenty eight minutes until his next MTAC meeting with Agent Dale at eleven, but surely there better things he could be doing that standing in the dark MTAC room? He pulled of his headset with one hand and offered it to Kearse.

“I’ll be back at eleven.”

Kearse and Grady exchanged a glance. “Juliet arranged your next call at ten forty five, sir.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Who am I ringing?”

Grady checked his screen. “Agent Cramer with the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, sir.”

“Oh, good.” Tony said, with a self-deprecating grin. “Any chance you have the rest of my schedule there too?”

“Just your calls with Agent Dale at eleven and then Agent Vance at eleven thirty, sir.”

“Well, that’s a start.” Tony chuckled.

“You should be able to access your schedule on your phone, sir.” Grady offered. 

“Really?” Tony asked, pulling out his phone and flipping it open. “How?”

“Oh, uh,” Grady looked uncomfortable. “Sorry, sir, you’d need a newer phone than that. One like a PDA.”

“PDA?” Tony affected a confused expression, as he closed the phone as returned it to his pocket. “Public displays of affection?”

Grady’s mouth dropped open, as he exchanged an incredulous glance with Kearse. “No, sir. It’s a, um,”

Tony grinned. “Just kidding, Grady, I know what a PDA is. I’ve never had one though. Maybe I should get one.”

“You can get phones that act as PDA’s now.” Kearse enthused. “You can ring and text people, as well as take notes in them, and keep track of your schedule.”

“Could my assist adjust my schedule on it from her computer?” Tony asked thoughtfully.

“If you got one of the more expensive ones - like the Blackberry 8700.” Kearse answered, his eyes gleaming. “Man, I’d love to get my hands on one of them.” 

Tony could imagine McGee having the same reaction. He’d always gotten excited about the idea of new tech too. “Expensive?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kearse sighed dreamily.

Tony opened his mouth to ask for advice in buying one, after all they sounded very useful and it wasn’t as though he couldn’t afford it, before deciding to wait and talk to JJ about it. Besides, Penelope would probably be a better person to ask anyway. 

Speaking of JJ, he hadn’t actually had the chance to tell her that he had been made the Assistant Director a week early. Tony glanced at his watch and was glad to see that he still had nine minutes until his next phone call. Pulling out his phone again, Tony selected JJ’s number and raised it to his ear.

“I’m just going to make a phone call, guys.”

“Do you want it on the screen, sir?” Grady asked.

“My phone’ll do fine, but thanks.” Tony said, moving towards the other side of the room to give himself some privacy.

“Hey, Tony,” JJ’s smile was audible. “How’s your day going?”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, lovely readers, I am so sorry for my sporadic posting. Work is full-on and stressful at the moment, and my days seem to run together without me noticing. So, since I clearly can't be trusted to update regularly, I'm going to post all four remaining chapters of this story today. I hope you enjoy them :) 
> 
> Also, just so you know, the sequel to this story is well in the works :)

Tony’s phone call with FBI Agent Josh Cramer was short, productive, and filled with far too much admiration for comfort. It was strange to talk to someone who honestly thought it was a privilege to talk to him, but it did have some benefits. Cramer had been eager to give Tony the contact details of the agent in charge of the FBI’s Organized Crime Unit based out of their Philadelphia Field Office, and he’d even offered to ring ahead and let her know that someone from NCIS would be calling. 

“How long until my call with Agent Dale?”

“Six minutes, sir.” Agent Grady answered, from behind his computer that controlled MTAC.

Tony sighed, and glanced down at his watch to check the time - 10:54. “I’m just going to duck out for a few minutes. I’ll be back by eleven.”

“Yes, sir.”

The lights outside MTAC were glaring in comparison to the darkness of the secure room, and Tony blinked a few times to help his eyes readjust to the light before jogging down the stairs to the bullpen. 

Andrew’s team were all sitting at their computers working, but they looked up as Tony approached.

“Congratulations, Assistant Director.” Asher stood up and moved around his desk to clap Tony on the shoulder.

Tony swallowed a down a grimace; it felt so strange to have people referring to him by that title. “Thanks.” He turned his attention to Andrew, who had also stood up from behind his desk. “I don’t have long, I have a meeting in MTAC in…” He glanced down at his watch. “Four minutes, but I have a number for you. Agent Melissa Turner runs the FBI’s Organised Crime Unit down in Philly - she should be expecting your call.” He passed the paper with the information to Asher since he was closest.

“That was quick,” Andrew said, stepping out from behind his desk.

“I had a spare five minutes.” Tony shrugged.

“Well, thanks,” Andrew took the paper that Asher passed him and glanced down at it. “This will make our lives a lot easier.”

“No worries,” Tony said, before glancing back down at his watch. He had three minutes before he was due to talk to Agent Dale. “I’ve got to go. Good luck with your case.”

He jogged back up the stairs and into MTAC, pausing when the change in light made it difficult to see. “How do you guys handle this dark room all day? It must really mess with your sleep cycles.”

“You get used to it, sir. It makes it easier to see the computer screens.”

“Do you ever turn the lights on when there isn’t anyone using the room?” Tony asked, sitting in one of the seats in the front row and tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling. “Are there even lights in here?”

“There are lights, sir, but they’re mostly just used when the room is being cleaned.” 

“It’d be a great place to grow mushrooms, I guess,” Tony said idly. “Might be a bit too dry though.”

Kearse and Grady exchanged an amused glance.

“Yes, sir,” Kearse said. “Agent Dale is calling, Assistant Director.”

Tony sighed, feeling all levity draining out of him. He stood up and straightened his tie. “Thank you, Kearse. Put her through.”

12-12-12

Tony’s conversation with Agent Dale was similar to his earlier discussion with Assistant Director Peters in that she was frustrated that he was transferring Agent Crawley out of her region without having discussed it with her. Unfortunately, unlike the situation with Agent Torres, this oversight wasn’t something that he could blame on Director Shepard. The blame lay entirely at Tony and Paul’s door, and he wasn’t about to throw the retiring Assistant Director under the bus. That being said, Tony did get the feeling that Agent Dale understood that it had been Paul who had dropped the ball rather than Tony. 

Still, Tony had apologised and promised, both Agent Dale and himself, that he would do better in the future. They’d discussed how they would find an agent to replace Agent Crawley, before eventually agreeing to advertise the position internally and wait to see who applied for it. 

The phone call had ended with fifteen minutes to spare before his next meeting, and Tony used the opportunity to escape the room again. This time to use the bathroom, get himself a new coffee and find to his assistant before he forgot what he needed to tell her.

Juliet was sitting behind her desk, but she quickly stood up when Tony approached her desk. “Is everything alright, Assistant Director?”

“Everything’s fine,” Tony assured her. “I just have a bit of a break before my meeting with Vance so I thought I’d stretch my legs and get myself another coffee.”

“I’ll make you one.” 

“I’d appreciate that,” Tony said sincerely. “But before you do, I have a few tasks for you. You might want to write these down.”

“Of course, sir.” Juliet returned to her seat, before looking up at him - pen poised above a pad of paper.

“First, I need Agent Crawley’s old position in the RU in London advertised internally. Two weeks application period, and you’ll need to forward the applications to both me and Agent Dale in the Europe-Africa Region.”

Juliet’s hand raced across the page. “Will the job description remain the same?”

Tony considered that. “Aren’t job descriptions for leading a Residential Unit all the same?”

“Mostly, sir, but there are sometimes are a few differences.”

“Send the current version through to Agent Dale and ask her if there are any changes she would like to make.” Tony decided. “Give her until tomorrow to get back to you.”

“Yes, sir,” Juliet added to her notes and then looked up when she was done. “Was there a second thing?”

“And a third,” Tony admitted, glancing down at his watch worriedly. He still had ten minutes. “I’ll also need you to email the agent in charge of the Rhode Island Field Office. Ask him how he would like to find a new agent to replace Agent Dayton and,” He paused with a frown. “Actually, I should probably be the one to contact him. I need to apologise for going over his head with this transfer.”

“Shall I add it to your to-do list, sir?”

“I have a to-do list?” Tony asked curiously. “Yeah, add it to that and then later you can show me how to find it.”

“Of course, sir.” Juliet wrote a few more notes. 

“Thirdly,” Tony sighed. “I’d really like to know what my meetings are about before I go into them. Are you able to ask about the subject of the meeting before you add it to my calendar?”

“I can try, sir.” Juliet didn’t look particularly confident about the idea. “But I am just an assistant, I don’t know if they’ll be willing to share that information with me.”

Tony considered that. “They can either share the basics with you or email them to me.” He decided. “Either way, unless it’s the director, don’t put any meetings in my calendar unless one of us knows what they’re about.”

Juliet’s eyes widened. “What if its SecNav?”

Tony swallowed. “Did SecNav often schedule meetings with Paul?”

“Not too often,” Juliet acknowledged. “But sometimes.”

“Anyone that I answer to can book whatever appointments they want.” Tony clarified. “But everyone else needs to give me some reasoning so that I can be prepared. I’ve walked blindly into three meetings this morning and I’m about to walk into my fourth - and I don’t like it. It’s stressful and it’s inefficient.”

“Yes, sir.” Juliet nodded seriously. “Would you like me to contact people to find out about your meetings this afternoon?”

“That’d be great. Remind me what I have this afternoon?”

“You have your weekly finance meeting at one; a meeting with Doctor Mallard at two; you’re meeting the Judge Advocate General at two forty-five and then Commander Coleman at three fifteen. Finally, you’re meeting Agent Marshall at four-thirty.”

Tony rubbed at his forehead. “Okay, great, uh, so I’m free between my meeting with Vance and one?”

“Yes, sir, but Assistant Director Stewart liked to spend some time looking over the financial reports in preparation for the finance meeting.”

“Right.” Tony sighed. “How do I get my hands on those?”

“I’ve printed them out for you, sir. They’re on your desk.”

“Right,” Tony said again. “Okay, I definitely want to know why Doctor Mallard and Commander Coleman have asked to meet with me. It doesn’t have to be a lot of detail - just the basics.”

“Yes, sir.” Juliet made a few more notes. “Was there anything else? You’ve only got five minutes until your meeting with Agent Vance?”

Tony glanced down at his watch. He had six minutes, which wasn’t really any better. “No, that’s everything. Any chance you can make a coffee in less than five minutes?”

“I’ll bring it up to you, sir,” Juliet promised. 

“Great, thanks,” Tony said. “And I really do mean that. I’ve only been at this for two hours, and I already don’t know how I’d do it without you.”

“You’re welcome, sir.” Juliet’s smile was wide. “I have some possible dates for Officer David’s training with FLETC. Given the circumstances, they’re willing to have her join the session starting next week or she can wait and join the next course in two months. But they need to hear back from us by the end of the day.”

“Of course they do.” Tony grinned wryly, celebrating internally. The course starting next week would be perfect. That way Andrew could get Agents Dayton and Torres settled in the team without David making things difficult. “Can you tell Cynthia that I need five minutes with the Director before the end of the day? Tell her that I have a deadline that needs to be met and that it needs to be face to face.”

Juliet winced. “I think the Director is away from the office this afternoon. She leaves after lunch.”

“Then tell her that it needs to be before lunch,” Tony said firmly. “I need to make this happen today.”

“Yes, sir,” Juliet promised. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Great,” Tony glanced down at his watch again. He had three minutes. He was just glad that he’d had the foresight to use the bathroom on his way down. “Don’t worry about the coffee. I wouldn’t have time to drink it anyway. I’d better go or I’ll be late for Vance.”

12-12-12

Of all of his morning meetings, Tony felt the most trepidation over his one with Leon Vance. Paul had admitted to him that Vance would have been the second choice for the Assistant Director position. And, as if that wasn’t enough reason for the man to resent him, Tony could only imagine what vitriol McGee had been spouted about him in the four months he’d been in San Diego. McGee had been furious at Tony when he’d left Washington, and Tony had no doubt that he’d aired his fury to anyone willing to listen in his new Field Office. He just hoped Vance wasn’t the sort of man to believe the angry ranting of a disgruntled agent.

When the video appeared on the big screen showing a stern man a few years older than Tony chewing on a toothpick, Tony forced himself to straighten his shoulders confidently. He couldn’t afford to let Vance in on just how unsure he was feeling.

“Good morning, Agent Vance,” Tony said brightly. 

“Good morning, Assistant Director,” Vance’s answering smile was halfhearted at best. “Congratulations on your new position.”

“Thank you.” Tony acknowledged. “How’s everything in San Diego?”

“It’s going well, sir, thank you.” Vance’s jaw tightened around his toothpick. 

“Call me Tony.”

Vance’s expression softened minutely. “Leon then.”

“Is your family well?” Tony asked. “I understand that you have a wife and two children?”

Vance’s smile was must more sincere than his earlier attempt. “They’re fine. Enjoying the beaches here in California. We’ve been here five years now, so the kids are settled.”

“That’s good.” Tony wondered whether that was Vance’s way of telling him that he wasn’t upset at not having received the promotion. “It must be nice living somewhere with that much good weather.”

“It’s warmer than Cincinnati, that’s for sure.” Vance acknowledged with some humour. “How’s Washington?”

“Grey and wet today,” Tony grimaced. “But my partner and I enjoyed a walk in the sun through Rock Creek Park two weeks ago, so it’s not all bad.”

Vance’s lips curled around his toothpick. “I have to think back for two weeks just to find a rainy day.”

Tony grinned. “Yeah, well, we can’t all be so lucky. How can I help you today, Leon?”

“I was expecting to talk to Paul,” Vance admitted, looking a bit uncomfortable.

Tony refused to give in to the added insecurity that brought on. “Were you wanting to discuss a personal nature with him?”

“No,” Vance admitted, his jaw tightening around his toothpick. “But it does involve Agent McGee.”

Tony barely managed to prevent himself from rolling his eyes. Of course it did. “So?”

Vance shifted in his seat. “I was given to understand that you and Agent McGee parted on poor terms.”

“You could describe it that way.” Tony acknowledged, he was sure that was how McGee saw it. “But as far as I’m aware, I’m the only reason McGee still has a position at NCIS. I was the one who convinced Paul to give him a second chance.”

Vance’s eyebrows rose. “I was unaware of that.”

“So is Agent McGee,” Tony admitted. “As I’m sure Paul has explained to you, Agent McGee suffered from a poor role-model in his first eighteen months as a field agent. It was my hope that some new role-models would show him a different way of doing things.”

“We’ve certainly done that.” Vance acknowledged. “Our adherence to regulations appeared to confuse him initially, but he seems to be getting into the flow of things now.”

Tony grinned wryly. “I bet it did. Did you ever work with Agent Gibbs, Leon?”

“I did.” Vance acknowledged flatly. “He always was a bit of a wild card.”

“Yes. You would have heard about his injury?”

“He’s really retired then?”

“Resigned.” Tony corrected. “He doesn’t qualify for early retirement.”

Vance shook his head. “It’s hard to imagine.”

“How did Agent McGee take the news?”

“He seems to believe that it is part of some kind of conspiracy.”

“A conspiracy of my making I suppose?” Tony asked tiredly.

Vance inclined his head sharply. “I had considered him to be adjusting better until the two announcements followed each other two weeks ago. I am hoping that it doesn’t completely undo all the improvements I’ve seen, but that wasn’t why I asked to speak with you.”

Tony braced himself, unsure of what to expect. “What has happened?”

Vance sighed. “It would seem that Agent McGee is attempting to find a publisher for a crime novel he has written. Jackie, my wife, has a friend who is a publisher. It would seem that McGee sent his manuscript to her and, while she is interested in publishing it, she wanted to check that there wasn’t anything in the book that she would be liable for releasing.”

Tony rubbed at his forehead. “And?”

“The story is set in a federal agency. There is a lead agent named L.J. Tibbs, with a team of three made up of agents Tommy, McGregor, and a woman named Lisa.” Vance said dryly. 

“Oh, for goodness sake.” Tony groaned, rubbing at his forehead. “What was he thinking?”

“I haven’t spoken to him yet.”

“I’d offer to fly out and help, but we both know that would only make things worse. Do you have any lawyers in your field office who could sit in on the meeting with you?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“I’ll send one out,” Tony promised. “McGee’s a detailed oriented person who values qualifications over other forms of expertise. He’ll appreciate the exact legalities and he’s more likely to hear them if they come from someone with a few letters after their name.”

Vance stiffened. “I do have my masters degree.”

“I know,” Tony assured him, he’d read the man’s file. “But does Agent McGee? It’s up to you, Leon, I won’t send the lawyer if you’d rather have the conversation yourself.”

“Send the lawyer.” Vance sounded grudging. “You seem to know Agent McGee well?”

“I was the one to suggest he be brought on as a field agent,” Tony explained. “I trained him for eighteen months until I left Gibbs’ team last year.”

“I wasn’t aware of that,” Vance admitted.

Tony smiled wryly. “I hope you won’t hold his bad habits against me.”

“I worked with Gibbs.” Vance reminded him. “Let’s just say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

12-12-12

JJ had only been at NCIS once before, and that had been when she and Tony had first started dating, so she felt a bit nervous as she showed her FBI badge to the security at the front.

“I’m here to see Assistant Director Dinozzo.” She explained.

“Is he expecting you, ma’am?” 

“No,” JJ admitted, wondering whether she’d made a mistake coming to surprise him. “I’ve brought him lunch. I’m his girlfriend.”

The guard’s expression lit up. “You must be JJ then.”

“Um,” JJ blinked, she didn’t think the security at the FBI building even knew her name - let alone who she dating. “Yeah, Jennifer Jareau - JJ.”

“It’s good to meet you, ma’am.” The guard grinned, waving her through security without even asking her to check in her gun. “The Assistant Director’s office is on the third floor. Do you want me to ring ahead and let his assistant know that you’re coming?”

An assistant. Right. Tony had an assistant now that he was the Assistant Director of the entire agency. “Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks. Third floor, you said?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The guard confirmed. “I’ll have Juliet keep an eye out for you.”

“Thank you,” JJ said again, offering the guard a smile before making her way toward the elevator.

It was strange to ride the elevator alone, and she was reminded of how much smaller NCIS was than the FBI - there was always at least one other person in the FBI elevators. When the doors opened on the third floor, she saw a short, dark-haired woman smiling at her.

“Agent Jareau?” 

“Yes,” JJ confirmed.

“I’m Juliet, Assistant Director Dinozzo’s assistant.” The woman explained brightly, before leading JJ away from the elevator. “The Assistant Director is in a meeting right now, but he should be down in a few minutes. Can I make you a coffee while you wait?” 

“I won’t say no to that,” JJ said. “Tony tells me that you make wonderful coffee.”

Juliet’s smile grew brighter. “He’s very kind.” She walked them past several desks, before opening a closed door. “This is Assistant Director Dinozzo’s office, ma’am. You can wait in here.”

JJ walked passed her into a light-filled, but bare, office. Clearly Tony hadn’t had time to set it up with his personal items yet. Though, for all, she knew he might not have any personal items that he kept at his desk. Some people didn’t. Maybe she could buy him a plant or something. And a photo frame with a picture of the two of them. He needed something to make the office look less impersonal.

“How do you take your coffee, ma’am?”

“Call me JJ and white with no sugar.”

Juliet shook her head. “Oh, I couldn’t, ma’am. I’ll get you your coffee.”

JJ placed the bag containing the two Turkish kebabs that she’d brought on Tony’s empty desk and settled into one of the two chairs facing the desk. It was a bit like being in Hotch’s office, except not so nice. Which didn’t seem fair really, since Tony was Assistant Director of a whole agency and Hotch was just a Unit Chief.

She’d only been waiting a few minutes when she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, JJ smiled when she saw Tony entering the office. “Surprise.”

Tony’s jaw dropped before a delighted smile stretched his face. “How did you know that I’d need some comforting?”

“I didn’t,” JJ stood up and moved to wrap Tony in a hug. “But I’m not due in the office until one, so I thought I’d bring you some lunch.”

“You are amazing!” Tony said with feeling, squeezing JJ almost too tight for comfort. “I can’t tell you how much I needed to see you right now. I’d considered asking if you want to go out for lunch, but I only really have forty minutes. He released her and glanced at his watch. “Thirty now. I have a weekly finance meeting at one, and I need to go over the reports. Not that I even know what I’m looking for.”

“Didn’t you go to the last one with Paul?” JJ asked, picking up the kebabs and handing one to Tony.

“I’ve been to the last two.” Tony agreed. “It didn’t seem that complicated then, but now it’s all on me.”

“You’ll do fine,” JJ promised, unwrapping the top of her kebab. “How was your morning?”

“I’ve had four scheduled and four unscheduled meetings this morning, and it’s only lunchtime.” Tony groaned. “And that’s not even counting the hour I spent up in the bullpen, or the half an hour I spent with Paul. I’ve got another, uh, five meetings this afternoon - though who knows how many I’ll end up having.”

JJ winced in sympathy. “That’s a big day.”

“Paul described it as a light day.” Tony sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. “What was I thinking, JJ? I can’t do this.”

“Of course you can.” JJ leaned forward to fix Tony’s mussed hair. “You’re going to be amazing, Tony. Paul obviously thought so, and you know that I agree.”

Tony let out a deep sigh. “McGee apparently thinks that Gibbs leaving is part of my big conspiracy to ruin my old team's lives, and he’s written a mystery novel with a character named L.J. Tibbs.”

JJ couldn’t stop the laugh from escaping her. “You’re joking.”

“There’s also an Agent Tommy.” Tony groaned. “And I just had it out with the director. I’ve only had the position for three hours and I’ve already had to go head to head with my boss.”

“Was it important?”

“Yes,” Tony said with absolute conviction. “Both for the agency and for the cases that we investigate.”

“Has it cause irreparable damage to your relationship with her?”

“I don’t think so.” Tony’s hand messed up his hair again. “It’ll take a while to get back to where we were, but I’m confident I can do it.”

“So it was worth it?”

“Yes. I just wish it hadn’t had to happen on my first day.” Tony sighed. 

“Knock knock,” Juliet’s voice sounded gentle. “I have your coffees, Assistant Director.”

“Oh, thank god,” Tony said with feeling, twisting in his seat to accept the coffee from her. “Juliet, I presume you’ve met JJ?”

“Yes, sir.” Juliet passed JJ her coffee with a smile.

“Good,” Tony said, taking a sip from his coffee before groaning again - this time with pleasure. “Juliet, while I remember: the director has signed off on Officer David joining the FLECT training next week. Can you make that happen?”

“Of course, sir,” Juliet promised. “The financial reports are in the black folder on your desk, and I have information regarding your afternoon meetings for you when you’re ready for it.”

“Thank you,” Tony said, gratitude lacing his tone. “You’ll take a lunch break now, I presume? I can make my way to the finance meeting at one.”

“Yes, sir, thank you,” Juliet said, before closing the door behind her.

JJ waited for the door to snick closed before speaking. “I’m so proud of you, Tony. I don’t know if I ever told you this but, before we met, I asked Paula what your worst flaw was.”

Tony stiffened. “JJ…”

JJ ignored him. “She told me that she thought your worst flaw was your lack of ambition. She said you could be director if you wanted to, but that you seemed content to be Gibbs’ Senior Field Agent forever.”

Tony’s jaw dropped. “Paula thought that was my worst flaw? Paula? Are you sure she didn’t say something about me being a womanizing jerk? Or being childish? Or…”

“I’m sure.” JJ interrupted. “I remember it because, as far as flaws go, it wasn’t actually that bad. And now, here you are, Assistant Director of NCIS. It’s like you’ve stomped all over your worst flaw and turned it into something good. I’m so proud of you.”

“You must have felt so betrayed when you realised that my worst flaw was actually my habit of dressing better than the women in my life.” Tony joked, refusing to meet her gaze.

JJ allowed him the deflection. “Hey, I’ll have you know that I look very sexy in this outfit.”

“Oh, yeah? Says who?”

“Says my boyfriend.” JJ grinned, scooting forward in her chair so that she could lean over and kiss him. “He’s always giving me compliments like that.”

“It’s not a compliment if it’s true.” 


	13. Chapter 13

“Knock, knock,” JJ called, pushing open Penelope’s office door to reveal her friend sitting in the dark surrounded by computer screens. “Is now a good time?”

“JJ!” Penelope spun her chair around and beamed delightedly. “Come in. It’s always a good time to see you. What brings you down to my den of technology today?”

“Nothing official.” JJ admitted, leaning against the door frame. “I just wanted to tell you that, as of today, Tony is officially the Assistant Director of NCIS.”

“Ooh, exciting!” Penelope grinned. “How does it feel?”

“He’s feeling pretty stressed,” JJ admitted. “Things seem pretty full-on over there.”

“Of course he is - new jobs are always stressful.” Penelope waved a hand dismissively. “But I was talking about you. How does it feel to be dating the Assistant Director of NCIS?”

“Hey!” JJ complained playfully. “What are you implying? That just because I’m a woman I naturally want a powerful man?”

“Perish the thought!” Penelope denied dramatically. “But you can’t tell me that you don’t think there is something sexy about a man with power at his fingertips.”

JJ shook her head in amusement. “Penelope!”

“I’m serious! Not that Tony needs it - he was plenty yummy enough already.”

JJ couldn’t disagree with that. “Do you know we’ve only been dating for eight months? It feels like so much longer.”

“Eight months? Really? That can’t be right.” Penelope frowned. “That’s excluding the time he was away, right?”

“No, without the two months he was afloat, it’s only been six months.” JJ sighed. “Which is a bit scary. I’m so in love with him and we haven’t even known each other for a year. I once dated a guy for eighteen months and it didn’t feel anything like this.”

“Sometimes relationships just work.” Penelope said. “Remember how after your first date with Tony you were already wanted to skip the dating stage and get straight to the committed relationship part? Even then you knew that you and Tony were right for each other.”

JJ smiled at the memory. “There was just something that clicked.”

“You must be soulmates.”

“What?” JJ laughed. “Penelope, I don’t even believe in soulmates.”

“Not even now that you’ve met Tony?” 

“Well, we’re obviously compatible.” JJ acknowledged. “But that doesn’t mean that he’s the only guy in existence who’s compatible with me. Tony and I work because we choose to. We choose each other. Not because some mystical force is making us.”

“That’s so romantic.” Penelope sighed dreamily.

“Is it?” JJ thought that it actually sounded quite clinical. “Anyway, I should probably get to my office and do some work. I’m officially running late.”

“You’re running late?” Penelope sounded delighted. “Well, I suppose there’s a first time for everything.”

“I’ve been late before.” JJ defended. “Besides, I wanted to come and tell you our news.”

“I’m glad you did.” Penelope assured her. “Tell Tony congratulations from me!” 

“I will.” JJ promised, before suddenly remembering something. “Oh, Tony’s decided that wants to get a blackberry or something, or at least some kind of phone that can store his calendar and allow his assistant to make changes to it. He wondered if you’d be willing to recommend a model for him.”

“Ooooh! I’d love too!” Penelope squealed excitedly. “There are some amazing new phones coming out. I presume money isn’t a restriction?”

“No,” JJ answered, she still found it strange to think of how much money Tony had access to. “He said whatever you recommend.”

“On it,” Penelope promised. “I’ll have an answer for you by the end of the day.”

13-13-13

JJ winced when she entered the bullpen and saw the clock on the wall. Between her lunch with Tony and her conversation with Penelope she was ten minutes late. She hated being late. 

Derek tutted loudly as she walked passed his desk. “You’re late.”

“Shhh,” JJ shushed him, looking up at the balcony to see if Hotch or Gideon had noticed her late arrival. Thankfully Elle wasn’t in the bullpen or else she’d be sure to have a comment to make. “I’m only ten minutes late - there’s no need to announce it. You’re late all the time.”

“That’s a lie,” Derek declared. ”I was only late once last week.”

“We were away on a case for most of the week.” JJ reminded him. “So you were late one out of three mornings.”

“Anyway,” Derek dropped his pen and stretched out his arms. “Hotch was looking for you.”

JJ’s stomach sunk as she glanced up at Hotch’s open door. “When?”

“Oh,” Derek looked down at his watch. “About eight minutes ago. Where were you anyway?”

“I had lunch with Tony.” JJ explained, readjusting her bag strap on her shoulder so that it sat straight. “He was made the Assistant Director this morning.”

“That’s a week early, right?”

“Yeah,” JJ agreed absently, looking back up at Hotch’s office. “Any idea what Hotch wants? Did he notice that I was late?”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Stop stressing. He’s not going to pull you into his office and reprimand you for being late for the first time all year. I think it’s about…” He glanced significantly towards Elle’s empty desk. “She was leaving as I arrived. She looked pretty worked up.”

JJ swallowed nervously and readjusted her bag strap again. She’d been anxiously waiting to hear back about the complaint she’d laid against Elle for six days now - alternating between guilt at having blown the whistle on her colleague, fear that she’d end up in trouble, and hope that the situation would actually be dealt with. “Oh, right.”

“Stop stressing.” Derek said again, rolling his eyes. “You did everything right.”

“I know.” JJ said, wishing she could be as confident about that fact as Derek seemed to be. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

“We can go out for coffee after.” Derek offered.

“I just got here.” JJ reminded him. “I can’t go out for coffee without having actually done any work.” She headed up the stairs, stopping at her office long enough to put down her bag and check her hair, before knocking gently on Hotch’s door.

Hotch was working at his desk, absorbed in the papers he was reading, but he looked up at her knock. “JJ, come in.”

“Hey, Hotch,” JJ shut the door behind her and forcibly refrained from fidgeting nervously. “Sorry I’m late, I, uh, well, Tony became the Assistant Director of NCIS today so I took him some lunch - but then I lost track of time.”

“It’s not a problem,” Hotch reassured her, moving around from behind his desk and gesturing for her to take a seat on the couch. “I’m sure he appreciated seeing you.”

“He’s pretty stressed.” JJ admitted, sitting in the same spot as she had six days earlier when she’d admitted that she was having a problem with Elle. “He’s in his ninth meeting of the day already.”

Hotch grimaced as he sat down in the nearest chair. “I remember having days like that when I was a lawyer. I don’t envy him.”

“Neither do I.” JJ agreed without elaborating. She really wanted Hotch to get to the reason that he’d asked to speak to her. She wanted to know what had happened with Elle.

Hotch leaned forward in his chair, his expression becoming even more serious. “Last week I spoke with Morgan. His observations of Elle’s interactions with the unit corroborated your own as well as bringing up several additional concerns.”

JJ swallowed nervously as she nodded silently. She wondered what the additional concerns were. They couldn’t be anything about her own behaviour, could they? No, of course not. Derek had just told that she had done everything right.

“I have spoken to H.R. about your and Morgan’s concerns and they have encouraged us to attempt to resolve the situation unofficially before taking it through official channels. That was Wednesday morning and, as you know, we were called down to Florida that afternoon. So I wasn’t able to speak to Elle until this morning. Elle was,” Hotch paused and a glimmer of discomfort slipped past his usual stoic expression. “She was taken aback by our conversation and has denied any part in the concerns that have been raised. She has asked for some time to consider her options and I have given her the rest of the day off.”

JJ nodded thoughtfully, wishing that she was a profiler. At least then she might have some idea about what decision Elle was likely to make. She was sure that Hotch probably had a strong idea of what Elle would choose; she wished she could ask him. “What are her options?”

“She can either choose mediation - involving you, Morgan and possibly several other parties - or she can ask for the matter to be considered by a H.R. representative.”

JJ also wanted to ask who the other parties would be. What had Derek said to Hotch? “And you’ll know by tomorrow?”

“Yes,” Hotch agreed. “In the meantime, I would ask that you not spend time socially with Elle until this issue is resolved.”

“Sure.” JJ agreed easily. That wouldn’t be a problem.

“And that you keep written records of any interactions with Elle that you feel to be pertinent.”

“I’ve already been doing that.” JJ admitted. “Tony suggested it last weekend, before I spoke to you.”

Hotch pressed his lips together, his expression stony. “How many interactions have you recorded in the last week?”

“Just three.” JJ said, though admittedly she and Elle hadn’t been in the same state for most of the week.

“Would you feel comfortable sending them to me?”

JJ’s stomach squirmed as her guilt raised it’s head again. “There’s a part of me that feels as though I’m overreacting and blowing everything out of proportion.” She admitted, not meeting Hotch’s eyes.

“JJ,” Hotch’s tone was patient. “If it was just your word against Elle’s, I might believe that was a possibility; but not only did Morgan corroborate your story, he described a situation that was worse than you did. From what Morgan told me, you’re understating things.”

Now more than ever, JJ wanted to know what Derek had told Hotch. “How could this play out, Hotch? What are the possibilities here?”

“There are too many possibilities to predict anything accurately,” Hotch hedged. “However, I promise you that my priority here is to make the BAU a safe working environment for everyone again. Our jobs are difficult enough without the office being a place of violence too.”

JJ winced. It seemed ridiculous to describe her and Elle’s petty disagreements as ‘violence’ given the horrifying acts that they witnessed on a regular basis.

“Now,” Hotch said, his tone suddenly brisk. “Before you go, I have two things I need to ask you. One of the concerns you raised last week was that you felt that agents looked down on you because you aren’t a profiler and they outrank you.”

“Not all agents.” JJ quickly added. “There’s a just a few and Elle is definitely the worst.”

Hotch nodded. “Do you want to be a profiler, JJ? Because, if you do, I’d be happy to help you work towards that goal.”

JJ blinked in surprise even as warmth spread through her at Hotch’s kindness. “I really don’t.” She answered firmly. “Thank you, Hotch, I appreciate the thought, but I’m happy as the Unit’s liaison. That’s what I trained for and, despite other people’s thoughts, I honestly believe that it’s an important role in the team.”

“It is,” Hotch affirmed. “The BAU didn’t have a liaison for my first five years as an agent and I didn’t have any idea what a problem that was until Agent Grover was added to the team. We’d go into towns, alienate the locals, and then wonder why we got so few requests for help. It’s taken us nine years of having a liaison to build up trust with local law enforcement and you’ve done more in the last two years than the four previous liaison’s did in the seven years before you. You’re invaluable to the team, JJ, and I don’t want to lose you; but neither do I want you to feel as though you aren’t being given career opportunities.”

“Oh,” JJ didn’t know what to say. She’d known she was competent at her job, but this was something else. “I, uh, thanks, Hotch. I had no idea.”

“And for that I apologise.” Hotch said formally, before offering a wry smile. “Haley’s always telling me I need to be better at using my words. Apparently she’s right.”

“I’ve never felt unappreciated in this unit.” JJ tried to reassure him.

Hotch didn’t look convinced. “Will you come to me if you decide there is any kind of professional development you would like to pursue?”

“Sure,” JJ agreed easily. “But I really am happy here, Hotch.”

“I’m glad.” Hotch smiled briefly, before his usual stern expression made a reappearance. “Now, regarding your professional development, I’ve been asked to float a possibility past you. It would seem that someone in the Public Relations department has heard about your relationship to Assistant Director Dinozzo and wondered if you would be willing to act as the agency’s liaison for NCIS.”

JJ stared at him, the possibility had never even occurred to her. “Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

“Apparently not, since you wouldn’t be reporting to Assistant Director Dinozzo.”

“Aren’t they afraid that my relationship with Tony would negatively affect my ability to represent the Bureau’s interests?” 

“That wasn’t a problem last month.” Hotch pointed neutrally.

“Last month they requested us for a consult.” JJ told him flatly, suddenly incensed that someone thought they could use her private life for their own agenda. “From what Tony’s told me: most of the time the Bureau and NCIS interact it is over an argument about jurisdiction. People can’t seriously think that I’d use my relationship with Tony to the FBI’s advantage? Or that Tony would give us jurisdiction just because I was the one asking?”

“I…” Hotch started, but JJ wasn’t done talking.

“The answer is no! I would never purposely put Tony in a position of having to choose between me and his responsibilities at NCIS. Our relationship is not a trump card to help the Bureau win their turf war with another agency. But you can tell the PR department that they’re right about needing a new liaison. There’s no way Tony will work with Fornell. And if they complain, just tell them that maybe they should teach agents not to arrest people without going through due process.”

“Agent Fornell was their liaison?” Hotch asked. “The agent who arrested Agent Dinozzo?”

“Unofficial liaison.” JJ clarified. “Tony says he had a good working relationship with Agent Gibbs so the Bureau always sent him. But now that Gibbs is gone, they’ll need someone else.”

“But not you.” Hotch acknowledged, not sounding surprised.

JJ offered him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I know it wasn’t your idea.”

“If it’s any consolation, I think you’re right to be indignant; but I was ordered to offer the position to you.”

JJ thought it had probably been Strauss. The woman practically oozed ambition, and likely imagined that JJ would be perfectly happy to use Tony to better her career. It was sad really.

“Tony’s a reasonable guy.” She offered Hotch, feeling a lot calmer. “He’s already been talking about finding a way to work with the FBI without it always being an argument. So long as the liaison is willing to compromise sometimes they should get along fine, and then maybe we could spend more time actually solving crimes instead of arguing amongst ourselves.”

13-13-13

Tony hated to admit it, but the finance meeting had actually been interesting. He still didn’t understand a lot of what was being discussed, but the more he understood the more valuable he found it. Not only did it give him a better understanding of the agency as a whole, but it also kept him up to date with details relating to the staff and processes that he had oversight of. No wonder Paul had always sat in on the meeting. 

Unfortunately, the meeting had run ten minutes overtime which left Tony impatiently tapping his leg as the elevator took him down two floors to his office where Ducky was waiting for their meeting. He hadn’t spoken to Ducky in two months. The man had been so sharp with him since Abby’s dismissal and McGee’s transfer that Tony had given up going to autopsy personally and had started sending Asher in his place. 

And now he had a one on one meeting with the man. Which would have been reason enough to stress Tony out but, to make matters worse, he also had no idea what the meeting was about. He knew Juliet had found out for him, but she’d still been at lunch when he’d left for the finance meeting and now it was too late to ask her. Unless…

Tony reached out and quickly pulled the switch to stop the elevator in its tracks, before pulling out his cellphone.

“Good afternoon, Assistant Director Dinozzo’s office, Juliet speaking.”

“Juliet, it’s Tony. Is Ducky, uh, Doctor Mallard there? Don’t let him know that you’re on the phone with me.” 

“Oh, uh, yes, sir.”

“Can he hear you?” Tony asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Right,” Tony grimaced. “Alright, here’s what I need you to do. Can you write down why he has asked for this meeting, fold it up, and then give it to me when I arrive?”

“Of course, sir.” Juliet agreed, sounding amused.

“Great,” Tony sighed in relief. “Thank you. I’ll be right down.” He snapped his phone closed and ran a hand over his face. He could do this. He was Very Special Agent Dinozzo - scratch that, he was Assistant Director Dinozzo. He could face Ducky’s disappointment and anger without flinching. Shoving his phone into his pocket, Tony took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders before restarting the elevator. 

Striding out of the elevator and towards his desk, Tony only slowed down when he saw Ducky sitting in a chair outside his office looking decidedly put out. The ten minutes he’d been waiting probably hadn’t helped matters. 

“Sorry, I’m late.” He offered Ducky sincerely, pausing by Juliet’s desk and accepting the folded piece of paper that she passed him. “Has Juliet offered you a hot drink?”

“She has,” Ducky answered stiffly. “However, as I did not expect to be here long I turned down her kind offer.”

“Would you like one now?” Tony asked.

“I believe not.” 

Tony nodded in acceptance. “Just a coffee for me then, Juliet.” It would be his sixth of the day, and definitely not the last, but it was either that or cheap, break room tea. Maybe he should bring some decent tea in to provide another option.

“Come on in, Ducky.” Tony said, leading the way into his office. It was tempting to sit behind the desk and use it as a shield against the anger Ducky was practically vibrating with, but instead Tony settled in the same chair he’d sat in during lunch and gestured for Ducky to take the other chair. “I really am sorry for my lateness. My fifty minute finance meeting ended up taking seventy minutes.”

“Perhaps you should schedule your meetings further apart to save wasting people’s time.” Ducky offered archly.

“I’d love to,” Tony told him honestly. “But you’re my eleventh meeting since nine this morning. I hardly have time to use the bathroom.”

“Then perhaps you should have allowed someone more efficient take on this role.”

Tony could remember a time when he would have trusted Ducky enough to admit that he was having his own doubts about his ability to do the job, but now was not that time. He leaned back in his chair, feigning a relaxed posture, and opened the note that Juliet had passed him.

‘Doctor Mallard wishes to discuss how his Masters degree in Psychological Profiling can be utilised by NCIS.’

Tony folded the paper up slid it into his jacket pocket. “How are you, Ducky? I’m sure you must be missing Gibbs.”

Ducky’s expression hardened further. “And I’m sure that you are not finding his absence at all difficult.”

“Gibbs and my relationship didn’t end on good terms.” Tony acknowledged. “However, I would never have wished an injury on him. I’m sure we are all wishing him a full recovery.” 

“You hardly seem affected by his loss.” Ducky said, looking around the office pointedly.

“The last time Gibbs and I spoke he was yelling at me in front of a team of FBI agents as well as the entire bullpen.” Tony pointed out dryly. “Am I supposed to be upset that I won’t have to put up with that anymore?”

“You worked with him for four years!” Ducky gritted out. “I should think that you would at least have the decency to not use his absence to crawl your way up the ladder.”

“You think I got this job because Gibbs was gone?” Tony asked incredulously. “He isn’t god, Ducky. He was just a special agent, no different from the rest of us.”

“Is a special agent.” Ducky corrected icily. “And you must be aware that you only received this position because Gibbs was no longer available.”

“Special Agent Gibbs resigned from NCIS two weeks ago.” Tony retorted. “He is no longer an agent in this agency and, for your information, I was offered this position four weeks ago - that’s two weeks before Gibbs’ head injury and subsequent resignation.” He let out a sigh and tried to get his frustration under control. “But none of this is what you asked to see me about today. How can I help you, Doctor Mallard?”

“Gibbs will be back.” Ducky declared confidently.

“I have no doubt that Gibbs will return to DC,” Tony agreed with forced evenness. “But I would be very surprised if he returned to this agency. I understand that Assistant Director Stewart finalised his resignation paperwork this morning.”

Ducky’s eyes flashed furiously. “Who will be next I wonder? Myself or Ziva? Will you force me into retirement too?”

Tony hadn’t considered the idea before, but it an increasingly tempting one. “I had nothing to do with Gibbs’ resignation, Ducky.”

“But you don’t deny your part in poor Tim’s transfer?” Ducky accused. “Or Abby’s unjust dismissal?”

“What did you want me to do?” Tony asked in frustration. “McGee was fast working his way to being fired. I convinced Paul to give him another chance.”

Ducky snorted. “A likely story, and what tale will you tell of dear Abby’s dismissal, I wonder?”

“Abby was already on probation when she shared confidential information with an outside agency.” Tony reminded him flatly. “NCIS regulations are not suggestions, Ducky, no matter what some people think.”

“You’re completely unrepentant.”

“Because I’ve done nothing wrong.” Tony declared in frustration, first McGee and now Ducky. “Now, we might have once had a sort of friendship, Ducky, but I think we can both agree that any remnants are long gone. So you have two options, Doctor Mallard: you can either pull yourself together and we can have the meeting that you can here to have; or you can leave my office and arrange another meeting when you’re feeling calmer.”

Ducky looked taken aback, and Tony wondered if he was surprised to hear him standing his ground. Tony watched the older man expectantly, refusing to look away. The ball was in Ducky’s court.

“Well,” Ducky set his jaw. “As I am sure you are aware after your assistant interrogated me, I am currently working towards a master’s degree in criminal profiling.”

“I wasn’t aware that was such a degree available,” Tony said neutrally, he’d done a fair bit of research after having seen JJ’s team at work. “Do you mean criminal psychology, or perhaps forensic psychology?”

“Criminal Psychology.” Ducky ground out, his face reddening

“I’m sure it’s very interesting,” Tony offered genuinely. “How long have you been studying?”

“I am nearing the end of my first semester.” Ducky said stiffly.

“And I presume you are studying part time?” Tony asked. “When do you expect to complete the degree?”

Ducky’s expression was sour. “Four years, give or take.”

“I commend you, Doctor Mallard. That’s quite the undertaking.” 

“It is my intention to use my new knowledge to assist agents with their cases.” Ducky declared. “I believe profiling will come in use often. I’m sure you agree, given that you have called on the FBI’s profilers yourself.”

“I do,” Tony acknowledged. Profiling was an extremely useful tool in the right hands. The problem was that he doubted Ducky’s ability to use it objectively. “I will let our Team Leads know that your skills are available to be called on for any informal discussions they believe could be useful. You’ll understand that any formal profiling will need to wait until after you have graduated with the degree? So you will be able to point teams in a direction that you believe might be beneficial, but none of your insights will be able to be used as evidence or to support a warrant.” 

Ducky looked as though he had sucked on a lemon. “I am a medical examiner, Tony, surely that must count for something.”

“Of course it does.” Tony agreed easily. “That’s why you are able to perform autopsies. However, just as Palmer is not yet qualified to conduct autopsies without your supervision, so without your masters degree you are not yet qualified to offer any formal profiles. I’m sure you understand that.”

Ducky looked as though he was grinding his teeth. “Of course.”


	14. Chapter 14

Ducky was already gone by the time Juliet brought Tony his coffee and, for a brief moment, Tony wondered if he’d actually have some free time before his next meeting. It was only fourteen twenty, and his appointment with the JAG wasn’t until fourteen forty-five. Of course, it would take him ten minutes to walk across the Navy Yard to the JAG Office, but that still left him fifteen minutes.

Unfortunately, Juliet had other ideas. “Is now a good time to show you your to-do list, Assistant Director?” She asked, as she placed his coffee on the desk.

Tony winced at the sight of the hot mug sitting directly on the wooden desk. No wonder the desk had several ring marks on it. Tomorrow he’d bring in some coasters to protect the desk from future marks. Which reminded him, he really should transfer his belongings from his old desk to this new one.

“Sir?” 

Tony forcibly refocused his attention on his assistant. “Yeah, sure.” He agreed, swallowing his sigh. “Is there a box I can use to move my things to this desk?”

“I’ve already taken care of that, sir.” Juliet said cheerfully. “They’re all in the drawers. Oh, that reminds me. Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

Tony moved to sit behind his desk for the first time since becoming the Assistant Director. It felt like a momentous occasion, and he paused as the events of the day all seemed to catch up with him. His breath caught as a feeling of panic spread through his chest. He was the Assistant Director of NCIS. Holy crap. How had he let this happen? He couldn’t do this. He was just a cop with an especially shiny badge. What had he been thinking?

“Here,” Juliet’s voice cut through Tony’s panic and he looked up to see her holding out a ring of keys. “These are yours. They open your office door, as well as your locked drawers.”

Tony accepted the keys. There were three of them: two big and one small. “What is the other key for?”

“You have a master key for all the doors in the building, except for the Director’s office.”

Tony stared at the keys in trepidation before placing them on the desk in front of him. He wondered if Paul had ever had cause to use his master key. What kind of situation would call for it anyway? “Where is Paul? I haven’t seen him all day.”

“Assistant Director Stewart has gone home.” Juliet asked, sounding a bit apologetic. “He spent the morning with HR, but then there wasn’t much for him to do so he decided to take the second half of the day off. He’ll be back in the morning.”

Tony smiled wryly. “He doesn’t have much to do because he lumped me with his job a week early.” 

“He seemed to think you had things well in hand, sir.” Juliet offered.

“Do I?” Tony asked rhetorically, before forcibly shaking himself out of his pity party. “Alright, show me this to-do list you were telling me about.” He instructed, picking up his coffee and taking a sip.

Juliet came around the desk. “If you could log into your computer, sir.”

“Sure,” Tony put his coffee down, and quickly typed in his user-name and password. “What are the chances of me convincing you to call me Tony?”

“Slim to none, sir.” Juliet answered, amusement lacing her tone. 

Tony rolled his chair a few inches to the side to give her access to the mouse and keyboard. “I guess I’ll just have to keep trying.”

Juliet shook her head as she leaned over and placed her hand on the mouse. “I’m sure there are more productive uses of your time, Assistant Director. Now, do you know how to open your calendar?”

Tony snorted. “Do I know how to open my calendar? I not entirely useless on computers.”

“Sorry, sir.” Juliet said, clicking into his calendar. “I’m just so used to Assistant Director Stewart.”

“I’m over twenty years younger than Paul.” Tony protested.

“Yes, sir.” Juliet sounded amused. “Now, this button here takes you to your to-do list.” She clicked the button and Tony winced when a list at least a dozen tasks long appeared on the screen. “You can add tasks by clicking here, and remove tasks by right-clicking on them.”

“And you can add tasks too?” Tony asked absently, as he ran his eyes over the list. Most of them seemed to be related to things he and Paul had discussed: paperwork, meetings, conversations he needed to have with people. 

“Yes, sir.”

“Grady, from MTAC, told me that I should be able to view my schedule from one of the new phones they’ve been putting out. I’m planning on buying one later this week. Do you think I’ll be able to view my task list as well?”

Juliet pulled back from the computer, moving to stand near the side of the desk. “I don’t know, sorry, sir, but I’m sure one of the people from IT will be able to help you set it up.”

14-14-14

If Tony’s eight weeks afloat on the USS Reagan had given him anything - aside from a reputation of being a ‘one-man temperance movement’ - it had given him an intense dislike of being the only person in civvies surrounded by uniforms. Normally it wasn’t much of a problem since, despite being located in the Navy Yard, NCIS was a civilian organisation, but unsurprisingly the JAG office was filled with people in formal uniform. It made Tony glad that he had chosen one of his favourite suits that morning. It was a lot better than the jeans and shirt that he’d worn afloat.

“Assistant Director Dinozzo?” A young petty officer in navy whites intercepted Tony at the door.

“That’s me. I’m here to see Major General Cresswell.”

“Yes, sir. If you’ll follow me, sir, I’ll take you to his office.”

“Thank you, Petty Officer…”

“Wilson, sir. I’m the General’s assistant.” 

“Thank you, Petty Officer Wilson.” Tony told him sincerely, falling in step beside the younger man. “I appreciate you saving me from wandering the halls looking for the general’s office. I haven’t been here in years.” Not since he, Gibbs, and Vivienne had mistakenly arrested Commander Rabb for the murder of a JAG Lieutenant. “Is Commander Rabb still stationed here?”

“No, sir.” Wilson pressed the button for the elevator and offered Tony a sideways look. “Commander Rabb resigned his commission a year ago.”

“Really?” Tony blinked in surprise. He’d only met the man a few times (and admittedly the circumstances hadn’t been great), but Rabb had given the impression of being career navy. 

“Yes, sir.” Wilson confirmed.

“Huh.” Tony followed Wilson into the elevator, wondering who he could ask to fill him in on the gossip. There was sure to be a story there. Filing his curiosity away for later, Tony turned his attention to the man beside him. “So what brought you to JAG, Petty Officer Wilson? I’ve always wondered what would inspire a sailor to give up the sea for an office filled with lawyers.”

“I wanted to be a legalman when I enlisted, sir.”

“Aspirations to become a lawyer?” Tony guessed.

“I’m taking night classes, sir.” Wilson agreed easily, stepping out of the elevator.

“Good on you.” Tony followed him past several offices and then through double doors into a large office. 

A marine major general was sitting behind the desk, but he looked up as they entered. “Assistant Director Dinozzo, I presume?” He asked, standing up and coming around the desk to offer Tony his hand.

“Yes, sir.” Tony confirmed, stepping forward to shake his hand.

“I’m General Gordon Cresswell, but then you already knew that.” Cresswell acknowledged, before turning to Wilson. “Thank you, Petty Officer.”

“Sir.” Wilson drew himself to attention and then withdrew from the office, shutting the doors behind him.

“Seems like a good kid.” Tony commented, taking the seat that Cresswell pointed him to. He was pleased to see the general take the chair next to it, rather than sitting back behind his desk. “Young though.”

“You’re one to talk.” Cresswell returned in good humour. “Between you and that director of yours I feel as though I ought to have been put out to pasture years ago.”

Tony chuckled, tilting his body so that he faced the general. “I’m sure you’ve got plenty of years left in you, sir.”

“Call me Gordon,” Cresswell ordered. “You aren’t in my command and the way I see it we’re two sides of the same coin. You arrest them, I convict and defend them.”

“And I’m Tony,” Tony replied, wondering where Cresswell saw Director Shepard sitting in his coin analogy. “Thank you for taking the time to see me today. I know it was late notice.”

“The way I understand it, this entire situation was sprung on you pretty quickly.” Cresswell commented. “I didn’t think Paul was stepping down until the end of the week.”

“Neither did I.” Tony grinned wryly. “It was quite a surprise for all of us.”

“Paul’s a good man,” Cresswell said, with a nod of his head. “And he’ll be missed.”

“He will.” Tony agreed sincerely. 

Cresswell speared Tony a serious look. “That being said, I sure do hope he’s right about you being a better Assistant Director than he was. I’m damn sick watching cases be thrown out of court due to technicalities. Warrants being ignored, chain of evidence being compromised, hell, the number of times an agent’s conflict of interest has been ignored stuns me.”

Tony tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. His mouth was so dry he felt as though it was filled with sand. Why did Paul insist on telling people that Tony would be better than him? All he was doing was raising people’s expectations to a level that Tony didn’t have a chance of attaining.

“I understand that Agent Gibbs has resigned,” Cresswell continued. “Which, I’ll admit - just between the two of us - caused quite the celebration amongst my staff. But he wasn’t the only culprit, and I’ll be damned if I continue to put up with your agents’ negligence letting criminals go free.”

Tony’s mind raced as he tried to decide how best to respond. “I knew there was a problem, General, but I’ll admit to not being aware of the severity of it. How many cases would you say have been affected?”

“Three in the last month.” Cresswell answered flatly. “Two of which we won by the skin of our teeth, the third one resulted in an acquittal when the key piece of evidence was deemed inadmissible.”

“Three in a month?” Tony repeated in disbelief. “How many of those involved Gibbs?”

“Two: one conviction and the acquittal.”

“And the third one?” Tony asked, his stomach twisting at the thought that it might have been his mistake. He wasn’t as bad as Gibbs, but there had definitely been times when he’d chosen efficiency over procedure.”

“Your agents need to learn to follow the letter of their warrants.” Cresswell snapped, before letting out a breath. “Which is unfair, I know, given that they’ve been your agents for less than a day, but things need to change.”

“They do.” Tony agreed, his mind spinning. How many times had his actions resulted in evidence being inadmissible? He was too afraid to ask. “So, warrants are a problem. What else?”

“As I said, chain of evidence, conflict of interest, and you need to start reading people their damn rights so that their statements are actually admissible.” Cresswell said, though he was already sounding a lot calmer. “And don’t even get me started on Officer David’s involvement. We haven’t had any problems yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”

Tony sighed. “Director Sheppard is committed to NCIS’ partnership with Mossad.”

“So she tells me.” Cresswell didn’t sound impressed. “Personally, I’m more committed to seeing justice done.”

Tony could relate. “While Officer David’s position at NCIS is currently fixed, I have arranged for her to attend FLETC’s Criminal Investigation Training Program starting next Tuesday. She’ll be away for three months, but hopefully she’ll have a better understanding of our procedures when she returns.”

Cresswell’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “And your director?”

“Director Shepard has approved it.” Tony confirmed. “She acknowledges the importance of protecting NCIS’ interests.”

“You know what, Tony?” Cresswell asked slowly. “I think Paul might be right about you.”

Tony really didn’t want to talk about that. “Can you send me a list of the most problematic lapses in procedure, as well as some examples for each of them? I’ll also need the names of the main culprits.”

Cresswell nodded. “I’ll have Petty Officer Wilson send them to you by the end of tomorrow.”

“I wonder if it might be worth holding an in-house training,” Tony mused aloud. “How would you feel about sending someone to NCIS to drill this stuff into our heads?”

“If you think it would help.”

“I think one of the problems is how removed most agents are from the final verdict. Sure we testify in a lot of cases, but half the time that’s six months to a year since our investigation and we’re knee deep in another case. Connecting the dots between our procedures and your verdicts might help remind people of their importance.”

Cresswell looked pleased. “I may even come and present the numbers myself.”

An image of Cresswell going toe to toe with Gibbs flashed through Tony’s mind, filling him with gratitude that the older agent wouldn’t be there. “I’d appreciate that, Gordon.”

“The appreciation is mine, Tony.” Gordon said, pushing himself to his feet and offering Tony his hand. “Welcome to the team.”

Tony quickly stood up and grasped the offered hand in a handshake. “Thank you, sir.”

“I’m looking forward to working with you.” Cresswell said, stepping back.

“Likewise.” Tony said, half surprised to realise that he actually meant it. “Two sides of the coin, right?”

“Right.” Cresswell smiled. “Now, I understand that Commander Coleman is expecting you?”

Tony glanced down at his watch - 16:01. “Not for another nine minutes, but I’m sure there’s somewhere I can wait.”

“I’m sure Commander Coleman will be willing to meet with you a few minutes early.” Cresswell declared, picking up phone and dialling a few numbers. “This is General Cresswell. Are you ready for Assistant Director Dinozzo? Thank you, Commander, he’ll be right with you.”

Tony swallowed down a wince. He’d met Commander Coleman several times and he doubted she would appreciate having her schedule changed. The woman couldn’t even handle a blunt pencil.

14-14-14

Commander Faith Coleman stood up as Tony entered her office. “Assistant Director Dinozzo, thank you for taking the time to see me.”

“No problem, Commander Coleman.” Tony offered her a smile, taking in her perfectly ordered desk. It was so flawless that he had to resist the urge to purposely knocking something out of place just to see what she would do about it.

“I would have come up and seen you at your office, sir.” Coleman assured him, gesturing Tony toward the empty chair in front of her desk. 

“I needed to speak to the General anyway.” Tony explained, making himself comfortable. “Besides, sometimes it’s nice to get some fresh air. Especially now that I’m not going out on cases.”

“I’m sure that will take some getting used to.” Coleman acknowledged, returning to her own seat. “I was surprised to hear that you had accepted a desk position.”

Tony grinned at her. “You were surprised I was offered one.”

Coleman’s serious expression slipped for a moment revealing her amusement. “That too.”

“Me too,” Tony confided. “And yet, here I am.” 

“So you are.” Coleman agreed, looking down and straightening the already straight file on her desk. “Can I presume that your assistant passed on my reasons for requesting to see you?”

“You need someone to testify in a case.” Tony answered, raising an eyebrow curiously. “I would have thought that was a standard request, and not one that required my input. What makes this case different?”

Coleman opened the file on her desk. “In three weeks I will be prosecuting Lieutenant Charles Poleman for the death of his girlfriend. The charge is first degree murder; the defence is trying to claim that her death was accidental.” She pressed her lips together. “The autopsy found that she was covered in bruises at different stages of healing; cause of death was a blow to the head when he threw her into the corner of their table.”

Tony’s jaw tightened. “Domestic violence?”

“That was Doctor Mallard’s conclusion.” Coleman confirmed.

“Sounds like an open and shut case.” Tony commented. “Unless there was some kind of procedure lapse that is making things more difficult?”

“No, everything seems to have been done by the book.”

Tony let out a relieved breath. “Good. So, what do you need from me?”

“It is expected for at least one of the agents who investigated the crime to testify in court.” Coleman said. “However, this particular case was investigated by Agents Gibbs and McGee with the assistance of Officer David.” 

“Ah,” Tony grimaced, his stomach sinking. 

“I had arranged for Agent Gibbs to testify, but…” Coleman trailed off.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I doubt he even remembers the case. And you can’t call Officer David to testify.” Tony sighed. “You want McGee?”

“I need one of the original investigators to testify.”

Tony sighed; the last thing he wanted was to bring McGee back to DC, even if it was only for a couple of days. Especially in light of his conversation with Vance that morning. Still, he could hardly put his own feelings above Commander Coleman’s case. “Will you arrange the flights? Or do you want me to do that?”

14-14-14

Tony made it back to the NCIS building in perfect time for his meeting with Andrew. Or, at least, the timing would have been perfect if he hadn’t desperately needed to pee. He really needed to talk to Juliet about giving him more time between meetings so that he wasn’t having to choose between timeliness and fulfilling basic bodily functions. 

It almost felt like deja vu as Tony approached his office to see Andrew sitting where Ducky had sat just a few hours earlier; except that, unlike Ducky, Andrew didn’t look remotely bothered to be kept waiting. In fact, if Tony’s guess was correct, the man was playing a game on his phone.

“Hey, Andrew,” Tony walked passed his friend and opened his office door. “Sorry to have kept you waiting. Have you seen Juliet?”

Andrew shot to his feet and, for a moment, Tony worried he was going to salute him. It a relief when instead Andrew relaxed, rocking back on his heels. “Hey, sorry I think she’s making me a coffee.”

Tony gestured his friend into the chair that was quickly being relegated to be the ‘guest chair’. “It wouldn’t surprise me, she’d pretty handy with that coffee machine.” He unbuttoned his suit jacket and shrugged it off, carefully draping it over the back of the chair before sitting down. It was the most relaxed he’d felt since JJ had left. “How’s the case going?”

“Better,” Andrew slouched back in his chair. “Your contacts in Philly were a great help. They’ve confirmed that the Romanos have mob connections, but apparently they’re pretty minor players. Pretty recent too by the sound of it. They’d never heard of either of our Petty Officers though.” 

“It isn’t unusual for examples to be made of unconnected family members.” Tony vividly remembered some of the examples that he’d witnessed during his time in the Macaluso. “It makes the point while still keeping the useful players in the game. Chances are Petty Officer Romano had nothing to do with his family’s poor choices. Were the feebies able to give you anything solid? Any possible names?”

Andrew grimaced. “They want us to hand the case over to them.”

Tony snorted. “So that they can throw it on their pile of unsolved cases? Not a chance. You can offer them a joint investigation, but we retain the lead. Tell them they can contact me if they’re unhappy with that.”

Andrew tipped his head forward in gratitude. “Asher says your masters thesis was on organised crime?”

“Yeah,” Tony confirmed, hiding his discomfort under a self-deprecating grin. “I am Italian. I figured it was in my blood one way or another.”

“But you didn’t end up investigating organised crime cases? I’d have thought you would have joined the FBI?” 

“I liked being a cop.” Tony explained simply. “And I got plenty of mob cases in Philly and Baltimore.”

“NCIS seems like an odd choice.”

“Yeah,” Tony didn’t disagree. “I guess it was a combination of factors, but basically I ran into Gibbs on a case and he offered me a job I took it.” He sighed and looked away, reminding himself that Andrew was his friend. Friends were supposed to be honest with each other, right? “My partner was in the pocket of one of the smaller mobs. I’d just found out when Gibbs offered me the job.”

Andrew winced in sympathy. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh?”

“Gibbs wasn’t so bad for that first few years,” Tony defended, though he wasn’t even sure how much he believed that anymore. “He’d only just got back from being afloat for a year, so he was still getting his feet under him.”

“Excuse me, Assistant Director.” Juliet had a coffee in both hands. “I presumed you’d want a coffee too.”

“Thank you,” Tony said gratefully, accepting the mug from her and taking a moment to enjoy the smell. “Do I even want to know what number coffee this is? ”

“It’s your seventh since arriving this morning, sir.” Juliet answered easily, passing Andrew his coffee.

“That’s not too bad.” Tony said, a bit relieved. That meant that it was only his eighth coffee overall. “Let’s make it my last though, alright?”

“Yes, sir.” Juliet agreed, before leaving and closing the door behind her.

“Busy day?” Andrew asked sympathetically.

Tony groaned. “You have no idea. I’ve lost count of the number of meetings I’ve had today. I feel like all I’ve done is talk to people and be yelled at.”

“Inheriting Paul’s mistakes?” 

“How do you know they weren’t my mistakes?”

Andrew raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Tony, you’ve been in the job less than a day. You haven’t had time to make that many mistakes yet.”

“Yeah,” Tony sighed. “Though it’s not all Paul’s fault. I have no idea how he managed to get anything done with a schedule like this one.”

“You’ll get there.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said again, sounding unconvinced even his own ears. “Anyway, I didn’t ask to see you to talk about your case. I need to talk to you about your new team.”

“MCRT One, I presume?” Andrew asked.

“I’m afraid so.” Tony confirmed. “There’s no one else I trust to keep Officer David in line.”

Andrew didn’t look surprised. “Am I keeping her in line, or…?”

Tony glanced towards the door to double check that it was closed. “For your ears only?” 

“Of course,” Andrew leaned forward in his chair. “Whatever you need, Tony.”

Tony put his mug on the corner of the desk so that he could give Andrew his full attention. “As I am sure you are aware: Director Shepard is very committed to the agency’s relationship with Mossad. However, I am not convinced that a liaison position in a MCRT is in the best interests of the agency.”

“I wouldn’t disagree with your assessment.”

“So I need you to keep Officer David in line and, if she steps out of line, I need you to file the appropriate paperwork.”

“Officially?” Andrew asked. “What if it gets lost again?”

“As per standard operating procedure, all your paperwork will come through me. At which point I will make the appropriate copies and store them in a safe place.” 

“And then?”

Tony still hadn’t figured out exactly how he was going to force the director on the issue. “I will make use of them when the time is right.”

Andrew nodded sharply. “Understood.”

“Good,” Tony said, with a nod of his own. “Thank you, Andrew. I know I’m putting you in a difficult position here.”

“I can handle it.” Andrew assured him.

Tony didn’t doubt him. “I know. That’s why you’re the one doing it, but I’ve made sure you won’t be alone. Your Senior Field Agent will be Phil Dayton. He spent fifteen years in the navy and was a Master Chief before being honourably discharged nine years ago. He’s been with NCIS ever since and spent four of those years as a Senior Field Agent.”

Andrew’s eyebrows were raised. “He seems a bit overqualified to be a SFA.”

“He’s just glad to be out of white collar crimes.” Tony explained. “I doubt he’ll be with you for more than a year. Once the situation with Officer David is dealt with I’ll be looking for a Team Lead position for him.”

“Understood.” Andrew grinned. “I’m sure between the two of us we’ll be able to keep Officer David on her toes.”

“Speaking of Officer David, she won’t be rejoining the team for two months. She’s joining the next Criminal Investigation course at FLETC. It starts next week.”

Andrew whistled lowly. “How’d you spin that?”

“Very carefully.” Tony said, remembering Shepard’s expression when she’d eventually given in. “Agent Dayton won’t be starting for another three weeks, but your fourth team member will be starting next week. He’ll join you on MCRT Two for two weeks before you both make the switch across.”

“Sounds reasonable. Who's the fourth?” 

“Probationary Agent Nick Torres,” Tony sighed. “He’s being transferred from our Intelligence and Information Sharing division. He has no investigative experience, but he has completed the appropriate FLETC training. He’s fresh out of sixth months deep over.”

“I see,” Andrew seemed to be studying Tony’s expression. “Is there anything else I need to know about him?”

“I’ll have Juliet send you Torres and Dayton’s files.” Tony promised. “My hope is that you’ll be able to get Torres up to speed in those first seven weeks so that David isn’t able to try and pull a seniority card on him. I don’t care how long David has been with the team - she is a liaison officer, not an agent, and she has no authority over anybody in this building.”

“Agreed.” 

Tony searched for the right words. “One of the reasons that Torres has been placed on your team is because my new position leaves the Field Office without any male agents with undercover experience. So, you should expect there to be times when Torres skills are requested by another team. That being said, all requests need to come through me.”

Andrew nodded. “Understood.”

“When that happens, I will always inform you that Torres is needed elsewhere - even if the op is after hours.” Tony met Andrew’s eyes. “I need you to come to me if you ever get the feeling that someone is using Agent Torres’s skills outside the proper channels.”

Andrew leaned back in his chair, his surprise written across his face. “You think…”

“I don’t think anything.” Tony corrected quickly. “I just being overly cautious.”

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled.” Andrew promised seriously, before suddenly grinning. “No wonder you're giving me Dayton. Any chance you’ll reconsider leaving me with MCRT Two? They're so easy to work with.” 

Tony chuckled wryly. “You’d be bored in a month.” 


	15. Chapter 15

“JJ!” Penelope’s voice called, as the elevator doors began to close behind JJ. “Wait for me.”

JJ quickly stepped between the elevator doors and tried not to smile at the sight of Penelope trying to run in her hot pink stilettoed shoes. Maybe she should film it and then offer it to FLECT as an example video of why active agents shouldn’t wear heels. High heels made it difficult enough to catch an elevator, let alone a suspect.

“Thanks,” Penelope panted, as she reached the elevator. “Oh, hey, Reid.”

“Hey, Garcia.” Reid returned, before returning his attention to his shoes. He’d been quiet ever since he’d absently followed JJ into the elevator, which normally meant that his brain was working overtime on something.

“So I did that research you asked for,” Penelope said excitedly, as the elevator doors shut behind her. “And I have the perfect phone for Tony. He should get the Blackberry Pearl 8120. It has the Blackberry 4.5 operating system; a decent camera, internet access, and bluetooth; and, best of all, it uses an Antioch chip that enables direct connection between peripherals so…”

“That’s great,” JJ interrupted, before Penelope could make it even more confusing. “And it’s a phone?”

“It texts, calls, and emails. And, of course, it has the calendar that Tony wanted. He’ll be able to edit the calendar and so will his assistant.”

“That sounds perfect.” JJ smiled gratefully. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do it today. I hope you weren’t too busy.”

“Eh,” Penelope waved a hand dismissively. “It was way more exciting than what I was supposed to be doing. Besides, I didn’t know whether you wanted to buy it for Tony before you went home.”

“I hadn’t planned to,” JJ admitted. “But it’s a good idea. He text me before to say that he’s going to be home a bit late. So, if I pick up dinner on my way home, I’ll have time to buy a phone and still race him home.” She paused, as a thought occurred to her. “How expensive is the phone?”

Penelope bit her lip. “It’s not too much. Only $589. Is that okay? I thought you said money wasn’t a factor?”

“Money’s not a factor for Tony.” JJ corrected. “$589 isn’t too bad though. I can handle that. Where should I go?”

“We’ll go together.” Penelope declared, as the elevator door opened at the ground floor. “Don’t you worry your pretty head. Penelope Garcia’s got everything under control.”

JJ looked back over to Spencer. “Spencer, is this your stop? You’re welcome to come shopping for us if you want?”

Spencer’s eyes darted up from his shoes and he looked surprised to see that the elevator doors had opened. “Sorry, JJ, what did you say?”

“Penelope and I are going to buy a new phone.” JJ explained, pushing a button to keep the elevator doors open for longer. “You’re welcome to come along if you like.”

“But I don’t need a new phone.”

“I meant for the company.” JJ tried to explain, but Spencer was frowning past her and didn’t seem to be listening. “Spencer,” She waited for him to look back at her. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Spencer said, though he was still frowning. “I’m just thinking.”

JJ offered him a smile. “Anything I can help you with?”

“What?” Spencer asked, his brain having apparently gotten distracted in the time it had taken her to speak six words. “Oh, no, thank you.”

“Alright then,” JJ knew when to give up. “Have a good evening.”

“You too.” Spencer said absently, as he walked out of the elevator.

Penelope giggled. “You know, I don’t think I truly understood the staying ‘he’s got his head in the clouds’ until I met Reid.”

JJ smiled at that, though her eyes were following Spencer. She wondered whether he found his life as lonely as it looked from her perspective. He was brilliant, sure, but even brilliant people needed friends. Right?

“Now,” Penelope said briskly, as the elevator door closed. “What’s all this about Tony having money, but you not. I presumed that you’d joined accounts when you moved in. Did Tony not want to? This is the problem with rich guys, you know…”

“Slow down, Penelope,” JJ interrupted with a laugh. “Tony and I don’t have a joint bank account because I said no, not Tony.”

Penelope’s eyebrows rocketed up. “But why?”

“Because he’s rich.” JJ explained. “It’d be different if he was just a regular guy, but he inherited millions from his mother. Most of it’s invested, but his usual account has more money in it than I make a year.”

“So?”

“It just doesn’t feel right to start spending Tony’s money just because we’re dating. It’s bad enough that we’re living in an apartment that he owns.”

Penelope didn’t look impressed by her logic. “You know that’s how relationships work, right? What’s yours his is, and what’s his is yours.”

JJ sighed as the elevator opened again, this time to the underground carpark. “I know, I know, it’s just hard to get your head around when he’s trying to share millions of dollars and all I have to offer is a couple of thousand and my great-grandmother’s crystal vase.”

“What does Tony say?”

“He offered me a card to his accounts months ago.” JJ admitted. “Now I think he’s just waiting for me to get used to the idea.”

15-15-15

It was almost six by the time JJ got home - takeaway curry in hand and packaged cellphone in her handbag - and she was sure that Tony wouldn’t be far behind her. Wrapping the curry in a towel to keep it war, JJ headed into the bedroom to get changed into something more comfortable that her work clothes. 

She was glad that Hotch had finally gotten back to her about the complaint she’d made about Elle, and even gladder that she’d know what was happening by this time tomorrow. She just wanted the situation to be over and done with. Of course, that wouldn’t happen tomorrow. Depending on how Elle chose to proceed, either with mediation or a H.R. representative, they’d probably be dealing with the issue for the next month.

JJ had only just managed to remove her blouse, when her phone rang loudly from where she’d left her bag in the other room. Her stomach twisted at the sudden thought that it might be Elle ringing to confront her about the complaint she’d made, but she forcibly pushed that thought aside. Elle wouldn’t be stupid enough to ignore Hotch’s order for them to have no contact and, even if she was, JJ could always hang up the phone.

It was much more likely to be Tony ringing to let her know that he was going to be even later than he’d originally thought. Leaving her blouse on the bed, JJ padded her way into the kitchen in stockinged feet and retrieved her phone from the bottom of her bag.

Glancing at the caller ID, just in case, JJ was surprised to see Paula’s name lit up on the screen. She’d only heard from her cousin twice since she’d accepted a last minute agent afloat position for a maximum of six months. That had been four months ago.

“Hey, Paula,” JJ answered the phone, before moving to fill the kettle with water. “How are you?”

“Stunned,” Paula answered matter of factly, though JJ could hear a sliver of humour in her tone. “I’m not sure I believe my eyes. You and Tony are still together, right?”

JJ frowned in confusion. “Of course we are.”

“Good. So, is it true?”

“Is what true?” JJ asked, placing the kettle on the stove and turning up the heat. “Oh, you mean about Tony?” She couldn’t help her proud smile. “Yeah, that’s true. He’s officially an Assistant Director of NCIS.”

“Wow,” Paula exclaimed. “How’d that happen, Jenny? This time last year he was still running around after Gibbs.”

JJ leaned against the bench. “From what Tony’s told me, Paul had been watching him for a while. I think he was planning this right from when Tony asked to transfer out of Gibbs’ team. How’d you just find out about it today? Tony said an email went out two weeks ago.”

“Do you have any idea how many inter-agency emails I get?” Paula asked rhetorically. “Of course you do, the FBI must be ten times worse. You just stop reading after a while.”

“No, you don’t.” JJ denied indignantly. “What if you miss something important?”

“Then I’m sure someone will catch me up when the situations calls for it.” Paula said unapologetically. “The only reason I read this email is because it had Tony’s name in the subject line. Now I feel as though I’ve landed in an alternate universe.”

“He’ll be great at it.” JJ said defensively, before feeling silly. Paula knew that; she’d been the one to tell JJ that Tony had the potential to go far. 

“I have no doubts.” Paula assured her. “It is a bit weird to think that he’s my boss now though. Do you think he’d put a rush on finding my replacement if you asked him to? I’m getting really sick of having my life waste away on a ship.”

“I’ll mention it to him.” JJ promised, pulling two mugs out of the cupboard and placing on the bench. “He has a lot on his plate right now though. Speaking of ships, how are you ringing me from your cellphone? How are you ringing me at all?”

“We’re in port at Rota.” Paula explained. “It’s a nice change of scenery, but do you know what would be an even nicer change?”

“A transfer to the position waiting for you at the Pentagon?” JJ guessed with a laugh. “You know, I thought you were crazy for signing up for yet another stint as agent afloat.”

“I’d forgotten how awful it is, Jenny.” Paula admitted with a whine. “I expect you to stop me if I never try to sign up for it again. Or, better yet, convince Tony not to offer the position to me again.”

JJ could feel irritation rising within her at the idea that Paula might expect her to use her relationship with Tony to manipulate him, but she pushed it down. Paula was kidding, probably, and it wouldn’t have even bothered her if the FBI hadn’t done the same thing earlier.

“You can tell him yourself.” She retorted lightly, carefully measuring tea leaves into two diffusers and placing one in each mug. “You know he still feels bad for your getting hurt last year.”

“Of course he does.” Paula sounded amused. “You know, I’d call him a chauvinist, but I’m pretty sure he would’ve freaked out just as much if Gibbs or McGee had gotten hurt.”

JJ doubted it. Tony wasn’t a chauvinist, but he did believe in protecting people who were less capable of protecting themselves - and women often fit into the category. “Did you hear about Gibbs?”

“What about Gibbs?”

“He got a hurt a few weeks ago - head injury.” JJ explained, moving to take the boiling kettle off the stove. “He lost of a lot of memories, and then turned in his badge and resigned.”

“You’re kidding?” Paula sounded even more surprised than she had earlier. “Gibbs resigned?”

“Two weeks ago.” JJ confirmed, pouring hot water into one of the mugs before returning the kettle to the stove. She’d wait until Tony was home before making his drink. She’d only just set the kettle down when she heard keys at the door. “Tony’s already arranged for his replacement.”

“Wow,” Paula said. “And you and Tony are good? You’ve been together for like, ah, eight months now, right? You must be getting pretty serious.”

“Yeah,” JJ agreed with a wide smile as she watched Tony entered the apartment. He looked tired, but his answering smile seemed sincere enough. Not that she could ever tell with Tony. ‘Paula’ she mouthed to him. “Yeah, Tony and I are pretty serious. We moved in together a couple of months ago.”

Tony looked amused as he made his way across the room and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. 

“Really?” Paula sounded surprised again. “That’s quick…”

JJ pulled the phone away from her ear and covered the mouthpiece. “I got dinner,” She whispered to Tony. “And I’m just making us both a cup of tea. I’ll be off the phone soon.”

“Sounds good.” Tony whispered back. “I’ll go get changed.”

JJ nodded, as she returned the phone to her ear. Paula was still talking.

“…known that you two would work so well. Did you find a place together?”

“I moved into his apartment.” JJ answered, turning the stove on again to reheat the kettle. “It’s a lot nicer than my one. We’ll have to have you over for dinner sometime when you transfer here.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Paula said. “Oh, that reminds me, have you heard anything about Thanksgiving? By my count we’re due for a Baker family Thanksgiving event, but I haven’t heard anything.”

“Neither,” JJ admitted. “Are you sure? Has it already been three years?” She thought back. There hadn’t been one last year, and she was pretty sure that there hadn’t been one the year before that either. In fact, she didn’t think there had been one since she’d joined the BAU - which was over two years earlier. 

“Yeah,” Paula confirmed. “I was stationed at Guantanamo Bay last time. I remember because I spent the entire time trying to convince the family that I wasn’t waterboarding people for a living.”

“Huh,” JJ remembered that. It had been pretty funny, from an observer’s perspective. “I guess it was three years ago. I should ask Mom what the plan is. Oh, damn, I’m going to have to take Tony.”

“So?”

JJ twisted around to check that Tony was still in the bedroom, before lowering her voice. “So I haven’t actually taken him to meet Mom and Dad yet.”

“Jennifer Jareau,” Paula sounded shocked. “You moved in with a guy without introducing him to your dad?” 

“They live so far away.” JJ tried to defend herself.

“They live four hours drive away.” Paula retorted. “I can’t believe they haven’t just driven up and forced you to introduce him yet.”

“I know,” JJ groaned. “I’m a terrible daughter. I want to introduce them; but it’s just been so long now. I didn’t take him for Christmas because we’d only really known each other for a few months, but then I got busy, and Tony was busy, and Mom and Dad were busy, and now it feels like it’s too late.”

“Have you at least told them you’ve moved in with him?”

“Of course,” JJ answered, turning off the stove and picking up the reboiling kettle to pour water into Tony’s mug. She set the kettle back down, and then retrieved the tea leaf diffuser from her mug. “They were surprised, but they didn’t freak out or anything. Maybe I should arrange a time for Tony and I to go stay with them.”

“Yeah,” Paula agreed. “Unless you want to introduce them in front of our entire family at Thanksgiving.”

JJ screwed up her nose at the thought. “I’ll talk to Tony and set a date. You’ll be back for Thanksgiving, right?”

“I sure will.” Paula sounded pleased. “I told them six months maximum and that time runs out end of July. Your hubby better get onto finding my replacement.”

“I’m sure it’s on his list.” JJ said noncommittally, as she watched Tony reemerge from the bedroom. “Listen, Paula, it’s been great to catch up but I’ve got to go. Tony and I are about to sit down for dinner.”

“No problem, Jenny. Tell him congrats from me.”

“I will,” JJ promised, pushing Tony’s mug towards him as he approached. “See you in two months.”

“Or less if Tony gets his ass in gear.” Paula retorted just before the line cut out.

Tony used the diffuser to stir his tea. “What am I getting my ass in gear about?”

JJ rolled her eyes as she put her phone on the counter. “Apparently Paula agreed for a maximum of six months afloat or until they found someone else to replace her.”

“Ah,” Tony removed the diffuser from his mug. “How is she?”

“She seemed good. She said to pass along her congratulations on your new position.”

Tony hummed skeptically as he fetched milk from the fridge. “I wonder if she’d still say that if she knew how low her replacement is on my list of priorities. I have three new agents I’m finalising for our office here, which means finding two replacements for their positions which will probably lead to even more displaced agents. It’s like a game of dominoes.”

“Does NCIS have the agents to cover the positions?” JJ asked, the agency seemed so small compared to the FBI. 

“We have new agents coming out of our ears. Not to mention all the experienced agents who are due a promotion. It’s a just a lot of paperwork to make it all happen.” Tony sighed. “Paperwork and meetings.”

JJ patted him on the arm comfortingly. “Dinner’s wrapped in that towel. Can you serve us? I’m just going to finish getting dressed. Paula’s call distracted me.”

“You got started at least,” Tony said appreciatively, his eyes roaming across the barely there singlet she had been wearing under her blouse. 

Once in the bedroom, JJ traded her dress trousers for a more comfortable pair before considering herself in the mirror. She a looked a bit odd really, with comfortable trousers and a barely there singlet. Odd and slutty. But it wasn’t as though they were going out, and Tony deserved some comforting after the day he’d had.

She was a bit nervous, stepping out of the bedroom in her odd, slutty outfit, but Tony’s expression put her fears to rest. As did his low appreciative whistle.

JJ rolled her eyes. “What are you, sixteen? 

“Hey,” Tony protested, from where he was sitting on the couch. “You can’t come out here looking like that and expect me not to show my appreciation.”

“Yeah, well, I figured you deserved some comforting.” JJ said, shrugging a shoulder. “Which reminds me, I got you something.”

“You got me a present?” Tony’s eyes lit up in excitement. “What kind of present?”

“The practical kind,” JJ said, picking her handbag up from the bench and carrying it over to where Tony had placed two plates of curry on the lounge table. “I talked to Penelope and she recommended a Blackberry something something. So we went out and bought it for you.” She pulled the cellphone box out and handed it to him. “It’s a phone, and it has calendar, and internet, and a lot of other stuff that I forgot that Penelope said. She did say that you’d be able to set it up so Juliet could add things to the calendar though.”

Tony grinned as he looked from the box, to her, and then back to the box again. “It looks so fancy.”

“I know,” JJ agreed, settling down on the couch beside him. “Penelope was pretty excited about it so it must be pretty good.”

“Thank you.” Tony said, leaning in to kiss her. “You’re amazing, JJ.” 

“You’re amazing.” JJ returned, turning in the seat so that she could lean back into him. Tony shifted with her so than he had an arm wrapped around her. “I’m so proud of you.”

Tony hummed, his arm tightening around her. “I love you.” 

JJ relaxed into him. “I love you too.”


End file.
